Naruto and Hinata, A lifetime of love
by IchigoUzumaki1991
Summary: naruto returns home after a year of training with the pervy sage on his 16th birthday party to discover he no longer loves sakura but actually has fallen for hinata!
1. Chapter 1

NEW VERSION! Added in some more details! Hope you guys like it!

This story is for all those readers out there who are tired of a story that has to end.

As long as I get comments and feedback to put into the next chapter I will always write.

Good or bad I will be accepting all criticism and ideas and using the collective vote for the next novel so please do not hesitate to leave input no matter how small. It could turn into the next big chapter in this ongoing legacy. In addition, as always, NO I do not own naruto or any of the related characters in this story. "Wish!" anyways enjoy please!

* * thoughts

" " talking

"* *" kyubi talking

_**Naruto's triumphant return; a Challenge made and a secret revealed?**_

_**Chapter 1**_

As the sun shone high in the sky a certain blonde ninja raced through the tree's towards home once again.

"**COME ON SENSEI! LET'S GO!"** naruto called behind him.

"Slow down kid! What's the rush?!" jiraya asked as he sped up trying to catch naruto before they reached the city gates of kohanu.

"Don't you remember? Today's my 16th birthday! I cant wait to get home and see all my friends!" naruto shouted as he sped even faster towards his home.

jiraya chuckled 'I have to find a way to stop him otherwise tsunade will kill me if he spoils the surprise' just as he caught up to naruto taking a small breath he heard and all too familiar sound emminating from the young ninja's stomach.

"come on let's get back and I'll buy you some ichikaru ok?" if it was possible naruto's smile got even bigger

"Alright! Ramen! Race you there!" and again naruto was gone again in a blink.

Meanwhile back at the village tsunade and the others were just putting the finishing touches on the surprise party for naruto.

"Sakura, is everything ready?" tsunade asked standing in the window watching for naruto and jiraya

"almost," she called "we just need to get everyone here" kakashi stepped out from behind the speaker he was hooking up

"leave that to me" he said. Quickly forming the proper hand signs he shout "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" instantly fifty kakashi's appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"now" they all asked "who needs to be here?" sakura listed the names of all the ninja in their chunin class as she said each name a single kakashi would leave in search of that ninja.

As she finished the list all of the kakashi's had returned with the ninja he had set off in search off when they were all here tsunade smiled "Good you all know why you're here?"

a choir of yes's and uh-huh's came from around the room. "WAIT!" sakura said "Where are hinata and neji?"

Kakashi closed his eyes for a second "On their way, they were slightly detained for a second" he finished as they arrived.

Neji Turned to face tsunade "we are here my lady, what is the mission?" tsunade glared at kakashi "no mission neji, today were throwing a surprise party for naruto and you and hinata were asked to attend"

Neji sighed "good, then I was correct, saying we had a mission was the only way i could get hiashi to let hinata come."

Tsunade sighed and apologized to kakashi saying "that sounds like him." she and turned seeing naruto and jiraya entering the city. She signaled to jiraya and even from that distance he still saw and nodded.

Meanwhile down with naruto catching his breath next to the city gate jiraya nodded at tsunade in her office.

Taking notice naruto asked "What's wrong sensei?" jiraya smiled "nothing tsunade just needs to see us before we can eat. Just a quick update on your training."

Naruto smiled "wait till she hears about my merging with the kyubi spirit!"

it was true, while training for the past year naruto had merged his spirit with the one of the nine-tailed fox. In doing so the fox couldn't take over anymore but naruto still had access to the spirits chakra and could still communicate with it for advice when needed.

"yeah I think everyone will be pleased to hear that the fox is gone for good!" they sprinted down the street and up the stairs headed for tsunade's office.

As naruto burst through the doors everyone shouted "SURPRISE!" He fell back and scrambled to his feet seeing all his old friends.

"GUYS! Wow thanks everyone! I'm so happy to see you all!' he said a small tear forming in his eye. He quickly wiped it away as sakura, ino,and tenten all ran and hugged him barraging him with questions about his travels.

They finally stopped when tsunade approached and wrapped her arms around him for just a brief second and then ruffling his hair "welcome home knucklehead and now LET'S PARTY!"

As soon as she said that lee turned up the volume on the sound board and started mixing some fast beats for everyone. As he made his way around the room he couldn't help but notice there was a girl standing off in the corner.

She looked like hinata but she was taller and it her eyes were a lighter shade of lavender than hers. He stared and noticed that the girl really was beautiful, he just couldn't tear his gaze away from her.'

As everyone began dancing, naruto made his way over to where she was standing "hinata?" he said as he got close enough to be heard over the music.

She turned and looked to see him standing very close to her. She blushed as he stared saying "H-Hi N-Naruto-kun. How was Y-Your Training?"

he smiled "Great! I learned a lot from sensei jiraya. And met some cool people along the way too."

A slow song came over the speakers and naruto looked back to see tsunade messing with the soundboard now. He turned back to hinata "hey you want to dance?"

she turned a deeper shade of crimson and swore her heart skipped a beat*Did he really ask me to dance?* she nodded.

Naruto grabbed her hand and lead her out onto the dance floor pulling her close. She sighed and felt her head swim as naruto danced with her across the room

*Please don't let me pass out!* she kept thinking to herself. As the song ended naruto kept holding her hand as they walked to the snack bar together.

He didn't know what was happening but he couldn't help thinking about how beautiful hinata was and how much she had grown since he left. They danced and partied into the night most everyone left except naruto, hinata and sakura.

Along with the three elder ninja who were sitting in a corner discussing business over a few drinks tsunade kept in her desk.

Finally the three of them stopped and turned off the music a little before two in the morning naruto looked at tsunade and smiled

"Thanks so much for the awesome party!" he smiled giving her his classic thumbs up.

She smiled 'well its late and you guys should probably get home. Except you hinata, you should probably stay with sakura for a few day's so your father really believes your on a mission."

Hinata sighed "no, I will just tell him I turned the mission down. That you agreed that neji was sufficient for the mission and that I have just been hanging out with friends."

Tsunade shrugged "however you want to handle it". As the three ninja left sakura yawned "no offense guys but I'm gonna head home ok? Night hinata, night naruto and happy birthday!" she said giving him a quick peck on the cheek and running out the door.

Naruto blushed a deep red and turned to hinata who had just stared at sakura with a jealous mind

*why can't I just do that? Just once? Im such a coward and now he's staring at me!?*

Indeed naruto was staring at her as she blushed a deep shade of crimson red. Naruto could have sworn hinata was standing next to him but the girl here was so beautiful he swore she was an angel.

He blinked and cleared his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. The light from tsunade's office was casting in just such a way that hinata literally looked like she was glowing.

Hinata finally looked up and said "Naruto is something wrong?"

naruto shook his head 'NO! nothing why?'

hinata sighed 'well you were just staring and I was wondering why?'

naruto audibly gulped at what he was about to say 'you' he said barley above a whisper.

It was so faint she had to ask "what?" she could have sworn naruto had just said her but she couldn't be right. *did he really just say me?* she felt her pulse race and her head was swimming as he said it again.

"You hinata, you just look so amazing to me. Your so beautiful, I keep catching myself looking at you and the more time I spend with you the more I realize that I really do like you."

She fainted, On the spot she fainted.

naruto caught her before she fell and brushed the hair from her face.

'hinata?' he sighed she seemed to do this a lot when he was around.

As he left he carried her over to sakura's apartment and knocked as hard as he could.

When she answered to door she yelled "WHAT? CAN'T A GIRL GET ANY SLEEP?'

naruto sighed 'sorry to wake you but she passed out again and I needed your help."

Sakura sighed bring her in, I can wake her."

Naruto carried her into the small living space and set her down on the sofa, sakura came back with a small damp cloth and a couple of ice cubes

'now before I do this I want to know why did she pass out this time?"

naruto sighed "I don't know you left and I looked over and I don't know, the light in tsunade's office just made her look so amazing she caught me staring. When I told her that I liked her she fainted!"

sakura laughed so hard she nearly fell over. 'Naruto you have to be the dumbest ninja I have ever met! You can master the resenagen in just under a week but your totally blind to the one girl who is in love with you!"

she did fall over this time as naruto's jaw hit the floor

"Hinata!?" he said in a small voice 'but why? How?"

sakura picked herself up and sighed "why did you think she always fainted a lot when you were around? Or that she always made a point to say something to you before you left? She's been in love with you ever since the acadamey! Man why is it you couldn't see it?"

naruto sighed 'I'm a fool, that's why. But no more! Wake her up please?, we need to talk. Maybe you can keep her from fainting"

sakura nodded and applied the icy cloth to hinata's forehead and she immediately sat straight up

"AHH! Cold!" she said rubbing her head she looked around

"how did I get here?" she asked sakura, she blushed seeing naruto there next to her staring again.

"because you fainted when naruto told you that you that he liked you."

Hinata stared at naruto she could have sworn that was just a dream she was having but could it have been real?

"is this true?" she asked

naruto nodded "hinata why didn't you ever tell me?''

she just stared at him ' tell you what?'

he really hoped that he was asking what she thought he was asking.

'that you loved me?'

she started to feint on the spot again but sakura put the towel to her head again and hinata quickly recovered 'thank you sakura'.

Sakura smiled and just sat waiting in case she tried it again.

Hinata sighed 'I guess I was just so afraid that you wouldn't like me. That you would think of me as some petty school girl with a crush…'

he stopped her "why would I think that? You're a strong ninja and an amazing woman. I've always seen that.'

If it was possible hinata turned a darker shade of red and continued 'well still I need to be getting home. Goodnight naruto."

Naruto grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a hug whispering in her ear 'I'll walk you home hinata."

She nearly feinted again but willed herself not to and remained standing, albeit on shaky legs but standing.

He turned to sakura 'good night sakura "im sorry we disturbed you while sleeping"

She gave him a bleary smile at him "no problem, just make sure she's ok before you bring her home."

Sakura said closing the door behind them. Naruto turned and grabbed hinata's hand again

"so then you ready to head home or would you rather grab something to eat first?"

she looked down afraid to look him in the eyes *is this a dream? Did I pass out again? If so I really hope I don't wake up yet*.

"im fine just tired so I think I will head home." She said leading naruto down the empty street.

He smiled *she's so beautiful! Why didn't I see it before? I have to make it up to her.*

as they neared closer to the hyuga complex he stopped and she turned to face him still looking down afraid to look up.

He placed his fingers under her chin and slowly lifted her head looking deep into her lavender eyes.

She stared into his cerulean eyes and saw all the wonder and hope she had ever wanted.

He drew closer and closer to her face

*is he? Is he going to kiss me?* she thought just before their lips touched for the first time.

When they did hinata swore that she felt the whole world melt away all she knew was there was her and him.

As he continued naruto felt as though he could have all the chakra in the world and never come close to what he was feeling now.

It felt like everything else didn't matter all that mattered was hinata and making her happy.

As they stopped hinata almost feinted again but naruto caught her sweeping her hair away from her eyes again so he could just look at her. Without thinking he said the only thing that came to his mind

"Hinata? I Love You." She gasped and wrapped her arms around him crying softly into his jacket

"OH! Naruto do you really mean it?" she sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve so she could see him clearly.

He smiled and hugged her close under the street lamp whispering in her ear "believe it."

She smiled and kissed him again slower and with all the love she could send him. He felt it too, he didn't quite know what she was doing different but this kiss was better than the last one.

With that they turned the corner and came face to face with her father hiashi. "Hinata is what I just heard true? You love this trash?"

he said spitting out the last words as though they were a disease.

Hinata froze and just stared before saying anything "yes father it's true. I've told you that I love him for the longest time but you never listen to me. So I will say it again, I love him more than anything!"

with every word she spoke he became more and more angry until she finished and glared at naruto

"what of you boy what do you say? Do you return her love?" hiashi asked naruto was shaking trying to control his fear and anger

yes, Yes hiashi I do! Hinata has always been a great friend and even thought I haven't always seen it deep down I have always known she loves me. For who I am and nothing else! I would do anything to keep her safe even if that meant giving my own life!"

hiashi smiled as a thought came to him "really? Would you care to prove that?"

naruto didn't like the way he was smiling but he didn't have any other choice but to ask "what do you mean?"

hiashi sighed " will escort you and hinata back to the forest of death there I will lock hinata inside a cage for twelve hours. The box will then be carried into the forest. However I will be giving the map to find her and the key to the lock to neji. If you can get the key and map from him in time to save her then I will know that you are true in what you say."

Naruto smiled he'd beat neji once and he could do it again.

"however," hiashi smiled as he said this.

if you should fail I will be waiting with the box with another key to unlock the box and you will never see her again."

Naruto galred at hiashi. As much as he didn't want to agree he had no choice "Fine, When do you want to settle this?"

hiashi thought "I will approach tsunade and she will make the official determination on the day. Be in her office in the morning to settle on a date."

With that he turned hinata in tow headed for his house.

As they left naruto saw hinata in tears and weeping as she walked towards her house, he swore then and there to make hiashi pay for doing this to her.

He turned and ran back to tsunade's office and burst through the doors to find the three jonien still deep in conversation.

When he threw the doors open they all stopped and stared at him seeing he was enraged tsunade spoke first

"naruto whats wrong?"

as he took a deep breath and explained everything that had just happened to her tsunade grew more and more vsisbly mad.

When naruto finally finished tsunade exploded

"HOW DARE THAT NO-GOOD TWO TIMING SON OF A SNAKE DO THIS! HE HAS NO RIGHT!"

as she realized she was screaming she took several deep breaths to calm herself before speaking again

"Naruto can you be ready in the morning for the challenge?"

naruto just grunted "I'm ready now! He'll pay for doing this to her!"

she saw in his eyes that naruto truly meant what he said and smiled

"good because she's not going in that forest. Hiashi is and you will have the pleasure of taking the key from him. Those are my conditions, that you have to take they key from hiashi and release her before four hours has passed and he only gets a ten minute head start on the four hours."

Naruto smiled "Good! I wont hurt him, I just need to get the key and get back right?"

she nodded "those are the rules, but don't think that hiashi will make it easy on you. He will do everything in his power to stop you. So you need to be ready for anything."

Naruto nodded "I'm going home to rest. i'll be back in the morinng for the meeting with hiashi."

With that naruto left and headed home, tsunade turned to face kakashi and jiraya "I need you two to be there in the morning just in case someone has to go after one of them in the forest. Understand?"

they both nodded "guess that means it's time to head home eh?" kakashi said heading for the door

jiraya just smiled "I feel sorry for hiashi,"

tsunade cocked her head and gave a puzzled look "WHY?" she said a little too sternly.

Jiraya chuckled and explained to tsunade about naruto's merging with the hykubi spirit and the advantage it could give him.

Tsunade smiled "well that makes me feel a little better. Hiashi may not be a ninja, but that dosen't mean he cant fight, he was the one after all to teach hinata and neji the jyuken jutsu. Naruto will need every advantage he can get if it come's to a fight."

As the two left and headed home naruto was already back at his apartment preparing his kunai and shurikens in his packs for tomorrow.

He wanted to be sure he was ready for hiashi in the morning.

"* _hey kid, listen I know a way around hiashi's jyuken jutsu if you wanna know._*"

naruto stoped and thought for a second, if he could get around hiashi's jyuken then it would mean total domination in this battle. As much as naruto would like that he couldn't. it wasn't right and fighting dirty like that just didn't set right with him.

"*_no, I will give him that one. I have you to help if he uses it. And besides it doesn't matter. All I need is the key. Then I just need to get back to hinata-chan*" _

naruto heard the fox audibly groan "*_alright kid, have it your way. Just don't say I didn't offer*" _ with that naruto crawled into bed and slept peacefully until morning.

Meanwhile back at the hyuga mansion hinata was in her room, still crying about her love.

She knew what her father planned to do tomorrow and she had to warn naruto. But with guards at all her doors and windows there was no way she could leave before the meeting in the morning.

Meanwhile downstairs hiashi and neji were in the middle of a heated debate

"NO!" neji yelled "I won't kill him! He's my friend! And besides the fourth hokage intended for him to be a hero not a villain! I won't participate tomorrow"

hiashi scowled. it seemed he would have to deal with this brat on his own "Fine! If you wont do it I will! Tomorrow the kyubi dies with that boy!"


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto or any related characters in any way!

OK so I would first like to give a shout out to Chris-uzumaki sensei.

Thank you for the valued input. Yes I did re-read my first chapter and realized where it

seemed like I had just mashed everything together.

So I am in the process of editing that chapter and will be re-posting it soon. And I apologize that it seemed smashed. That was on me.

Like I said before when I get reviews it will help me improve the story and my writing style. So to all those who are following out there please give me some feed back! Please! I need more input.

* * thoughts

" " conversation

"* *" kyubki spirit conversations

Chapter 2: Hiashi's challenge; the real Naruto?

The next morning Naruto was waiting as Hiashi entered Tsunade's office with Hinata close behind.

When he looked he saw in her eyes something he couldn't place. A pleading almost desperate look as if she was trying to tell her something.

"Tsunade, I assume this boy has told you of my agreement with him?" Hiashi said with a bitter note in his voice.

He noticed that both Kakashi and Jiraya were sitting in opposite corners of the door way watching him like a hawk.

Tsnunade just glared at the clansmen for a moment before speaking "Yes and I will agree under the condition that it is you that Naruto has to battle for the key and Hinata will remain locked in a cage at the entrance to the forest. That way I can be the judge on whether or not Naruto has completed the challenge in the necessary time or not."

Hiashi Though for a second and smiled "Agreed as long as one of my clans men can confirm the time as well. That way there will be no favored outcome between the two."

Tsunade Nodded "Agreed, do you have anyone in mind?"

Hiashi clapped his hands together and Neji entered the office with his head hung. Hiashi just smiled "My young nephew refused to fight his friend when I approached him last night. So I figured that I would have him tag along just in case. Seeing as how he is loyal to both the Hyuga clan and Naruto he will make a fine second judge."

Tsunade nodded "Then let's go and get this over with."

All seven ninja exited the office and began their sprint for the forest. As they arrived at the gate Naruto noticed and extremely large cage to the right of the entrance. It had a couch refrigerator and TV all inside.

Hiashi smirked "You didn't think I would just put her in there with no comforts did you? What kind of man do you take me for?"

Naruto just glared at the older man. As much as he wanted to kill him, he knew that Hinata still loved and respected her father, so that was out of the question.

Tsunade and Neji both took their places seated at a small table set under a pavilion. Tsunade then pulled a Small clock out from a bag she was carrying and set the timer for four hours and ten minutes.

"NOW" Tsunade started "Hiashi, you will have a ten minute lead on Naruto. I would suggest that you put as much distance between you and him as possible. Kakashi will be with you as to make sure you try anything lethal. This is not a fight to the death, it is only a disable and return challenge. Understood?"

Hiashi Nodded *curses* he thought *now I have to make it look like I accidently killed him, this is going to be tougher than I thought.*

Tsunade then turned to Naruto "Naruto, you will be escorted by you sensei Jiraya, but he is in no way there to help you. He is only there to be sure Hiashi play's fair. Understood?"

Naruto nodded and readied himself as Tsunade reached for the clock "you will have for hours when I give the word to find Hiashi and get the key from him. When you do you must then return and unlock the cage so that Hinata can leave before the time runs out understood?"

Again, he nodded and looked at Hiashi, Who was grinning like a fox.

"* kid, something isn't right. He's too cocky. I got an idea but it's Kind of Risky*"

"* What?*"

"* if I can plant some of my chakra on his hand before he takes off we can track him and chase him down quicker. I used to do it all the time if and enemy escaped.*"

Naruto thought for a second and sighed "* let's go for it; the faster I chase him down is the more time I have to battle with him. If he has any tricks up his sleeves I want to have time to deal with them.*"

Tsunade looked at both men and pointed at the middle ground between them "Shake hands and we will begin this challenge."

Both men then stepped forward and grasped each other's hand trying to break the others. When they Released Kakashi opened the gate and stepped inside withHiashi.

Tsunade pressed the timer and the countdown began. In an instant they both disappeared into the woods making quick work of the advantage they had. Jiraya Sighed and looked at his young pupil.

"You Ready kid?"

Naruto laughed "Yeah, we don't have far to go, Hiashi stopped at a small field just inside the forest."

Jiraya Cocked his head and stared at Naruto with a puzzled look "How do you know that?"

Naruto just gave his famous Cheesy Grin that he gave most times when he knew he had an advantage

"Well, Kyubki Suggested it. When Hiashi and I Shook hands he planted some of his chakra on his palm. So no matter where he goes in these woods we can track him!"

Jiraya just shook his head; the more that Naruto seemed to grow the more it seemed that his dream of being hokage was sure to come true. As the time wore on and the ten minutes came to a close Jiraya opened the gate and stepped inside. Naruto grabbed the edges of the gate and prepared to launch himself into the darkness that was the forest.

Tsunade counted down as the ten minutes ended "Five...Four...Three...Two...One…GO NARUTO! GO!" she shouted as the four hours began to countdown.

Naruto launched himself from the gate headed towards the tracking chakra.

Meanwhile in the field Kakashi was busy reading again as Hiashi prepared for his coming confrontation.

"You know..." Kakashi started "You should really out more distance between Naruto and you if you want to have any chance of winning."

Hiashi just scowled at the joniein. "I don't plan on losing to that Vermin! He's just a boy; he doesn't stand a chance against me." Kakashi sighed, *If only you knew* he thought.

Shortly Naruto dropped out of the trees to see Hiashi and Kakashi waiting for him in the clearing.

Hiashi chuckled "Well this is a surprise; I was sure that you would just fly by us and have to backtrack!"

Naruto just glared at the man. Hiashi sighed, "What nothing to say now that were alone? Come on there must be something you have to say to me?"

Naruto finally spoke with a harsh growl in his voice "Why would you do this? Your daughter doesn't deserve this. All I want is for her to be happy and live her life. Whether that be with me or not."

It was Hiashi's turn to glare "I cannot allow the Hyuga name to be corrupted by filth like you. You house the kyubki spirit inside you! "

Naruto smiled "That's where you're right and wrong! During my Training this past year I was able to fuse my spirit with the kyubki."

Hiashi was tired of talking and quickly crossed the distance between the two of them. Hiashi slashed at Naruto with a chopping hand sending him reeling. Quickly forming the hand signs Hiashi lowered himself "RYU JYUKEN! 128 PALMS!"

Hiashi came at him with everything he could muster. All the hate and anger were in the blows he threw at Naruto. Naruto tried his best to block the attack but Hiashi was still able to connect over half the punches through. Naruto gasped as he lost feeling in both his left arm and both his shoulders.

*crap! I gotta try and get this arm working again.*

He focused his chakra into his arm and started to move it around again but Hiashi wasn't going to wait for him to recover.

He sprinted back within striking distance throwing punches wildly trying to catch him off guard. Naruto saw him coming and jumped back blocking left and right.

He finally broke free long enough to get his arm back in working order. He raced up to a high tree limb forming hand signs as he did.

When he reached his point he shouted "Kage Bushin No jutsu!"

a cloud of smoke surrounded him and fifteen clones appeared around him shouting "OK! NOW IT'S TIME TO GET SERIOUS!"

All at once Naruto and his clones jumped from the limb and ran at Hiashi. Hiashi just smirked and said "Byakugan!" he looked and was shocked at what he saw.

Naruto smiled as he saw the shock ripple across Hiashi's face when he activated his Byakugan. Naruto had been working hard to spread all his chakra evenly throughout his clones.

So when he looked with his Byakugan, he couldn't tell the difference between him or his clones. All fifteen clones reached Hiashi and started throwing punches .

Meanwhile Naruto slipped into the crowd and grab bed Hiashi from behind and restrained him. What clones there were left searched Hiashi quickly finding the key and handing it to Naruto. He snatched the key and sprinted for the gate.

Hiashi roared as he felt Naruto grab him from behind. As he struggled under the clones searching, he felt the key leave his pocket and Naruto release him.

He saw Naruto sprinting from the clearing Hiashi drew a kunai and threw it at him. As he saw the kunai leave Hiashi's hand he saw that there was an explosive tag attached to the weapon and that it had been ignited.

"Naruto! LOOK OUT!" Kakashi sprinted after the boy trying to intercept the kunai.

Naruto turned and saw the kunai headed for him he raised his own in defense only to have it explode in his face.

As he rolled backwards from the force of the blast Naruto felt the rage grow inside him. His whisker marks started to grow wider and his eyes turned red.

"*don't worry kid, I'll take care of this just follow my lead ok?"*

Naruto agreed in his head as he felt his teeth sharpen

"*just don't kill him ok?*"

as he sprinted for Hiashi Naruto formed hand signs and shouted

"Kage Bushin No jutsu!"

fifty clones appeared around him. The real Naruto stopped with a clone and started gathering his blue chakra in his palm, which he noticed was streaked with red kyubki chakra, for a resenegan .

As the one clone formed the sphere he watched as Hiashi used his Ryuken jutsu to blast his way throught the other clones coming just close enough to strike.

Naruto ran at Hiashi"Resenegan!" he buried the orb deep into Hiashi's mid-section.

Hiashi flew backwards and slammed into a tree knocking him unconscious.

As he fell Naruto noticed a pile of roots just tall enough to do some serious damage from the height Hiashi was falling. He dashed and caught the man carrying him on over to Jiraya.

"bring him will you? I need to get back my time's is getting shorter."

He nodded and Naruto sprinted back to the entrance.

Meanwhile back at the entrance gate Tsunade and Neji watched as the time counted down on the second hour of the challenge. "

Tsunade, if Hiashi was to try and seriously harm Naruto; what would be the consequences?"

Tsunade turned and thought for a moment

"I don't know. Normally I would say that he would be charged and sentenced to jail time. But being from and extremely prominent family in the village we would probably have to subject him to a form of community service of sorts why? Is Hiashi planning something?"

Neji sighed"yes, but its nothing Naruto cant handle. I almost laughed when he told me. He…"

Neji stopped talking and looked towards the forest activating his Byakugan.

"someone's coming," they both rose to get a better view of the entrance gate. "NO! he's coming over the fence!"

Neji craned his neck trying to see the top of the fence that separated the woods. He and Tsunade both saw a figure dropping at an alarming rate. At the last second the figure grabbed onto the fence and slowed his decent enough to make a safe landing.

"NAURTO!" Hinata cried tears welling in her eyes.

Naruto just smiled his goofy smile and showed the key. "yep! Hold on and I'll have you out in a sec!"

Naruto approached the cage as Jiraya and Kakashi got back to the entrance with Hiashi in tow. As he inserted the key and tried to turn the lock Naruto frowned and tried again.

"It wont work!"

Hinata started to get worried. She knew her father had planned something, but she had assumed that it was to kill him.

At that moment Hiashi regained consciousness and started to chuckle

"You fool! I would never let myself be overtaken so easy! Here is the real key!" Hiashi pulled another key out from under his robes from around his neck. he freed himself from jiraya shouting as he did.

"Kage Bushin No Jutsu!" A clone hiashi appeared and took the key heading back into the forest.

Naruto glared and turned to tsunade"since I already beat him and have a key does it matter how I open the cage now?"

Tsunade motioned for neji and they huddled quietly in discussion.

Finally they turned to face naruto "No. It doesn't matter. Hiashi's challenge was that you retrieve the key from him and open the cage it never said how you had to open it."

Naruto just grinned "ALRIGHT! Hinata, move as close to the side's of the cage as you can ok?"

She nodded and pressed herself against the side wall away from the door.

Naruto summoned another clone and started building chakra. When he had enough he ran at the door and slammed the sphere into the lock "Resenegan!"

The door flew off the hinges with an errie ripping sound.

He dashed inside laughing and pulled her into a hug . Hinata buried her face into his chest and cried as she felt her whole world stop. As she cared was that she had him.

As he pulled back she looked up at him tears still rolling down her face. He slowly stroked her hair pulling her face closer to his and kissing the tears he did he brushed her lips with his and felt a shock run through his system.

He smiled and kissed her on the lips again.

She felt light headed as Naruto kissed her. This was only the second time he had kissed her and it felt like the best thing in the whole world like he was trying to show her how much her truly cared for her.

As the couple continued their kiss Tsunade stopped the clock and looked at Neji "I think we both know that he succeeded." Neji nodded and put the table away while setting the clock back inside Tsunade's bag.

When she approached Hiashi he wouldn't even look her in the face. "Neji told me what you had planned. And as much as I want to charge you, seeing as how badly your injured I won't. as long as you swear to leave the two of them alone. Agreed?"

Hiashi finally looked up at her "I agree,but know this the second he tries to hurt her his life will end."

He stood and slowly stretched his muscles. "I think its time we all went home."

They all agreed and headed down the path, Naruto and Hinata's hand's locked together as they walked towards town .

Hiashi Just glared at them from behind as he followed them only turning as he reached the Hyuga Complex.

This was not over. He would Kill that boy; if it was the last thing he did!


	3. Chapter 3: First Date A NightToRemember

I Do not own Naruto or any of the characters…. still.

Ok, so I need to know based on this chapter whether or not they are too long or if the details are just right. As always please post a review! Need more reviews to keep the story line going!

" " conversation

* *thoughts

Chapter Three: First date; A Night To Remember.

Over the next few day Naruto had been spending more and more time with Hinata. She was just so amazing! He couldn't get over how beautiful she was. The more and more he thought about it the more he realized he should do something special for her.

But what?!

When it came to girls Naruto was clueless! It had taken him close to five years to figure out that Hinata cared for him, and even then someone had to tell him!

He sighed. There was only one friend he trusted enough to talk to about this, and he wasn't sure if they really wanted to help.

He got out of bed and dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a black t-shirt with an orange Kohona symbol on the back. He ran a comb over his hair and quickly brushed his teeth before locking his door and heading for sakura's.

He knocked on the door and waited as he heard a plate being set down and footsteps toward the door. She answered in her usual red outfit and black pants. "Hey Naruto whats up?"

he sighed and scratche the back of his head "I need some advice and you're the only person I really trust to ask right now. Can I come in?"

"sure!" she motioned him in and headed back to her table to finish a bowl of cereal.

"so what's up? Everyhting alright between you and Hinata?" she asked between mouthfull's of cereal.

"Yeah, everything's great! She's the most amazing person I've ever met! I want to do something special for her. But I have no idea what to do! I was wondering if you could give me some idea's?"

Sakura finished her cereal and set the bowl aside "Sure, Have you thought about taking her out to a really nice dinner? She would love that. "

Naruto nodded *why didn't I think of that?* "yeah that sounds great! Thanks sakura!" he shook her hand and got up to leave.

"OH! HEY! Before you go! Tsunade wanted to see you the other day! She said she had a late birthday present for you. She wouldn't say what it is, but I get the feeling she want's it to be just you and her when she gives it to her."

Naruto nodded, he would go there first and then look for a restaurant to take Hinata out to.

As he made his way through the city he kept his eye's open for any nice resturants. As he got to tsunades office he noticed most of the resturants on this side of town were just small stop and go shops.

He headed up the stairs towards Tsunade's office. As she got close shizune saw him coming and coughed as she quickly exited the office.

Tsunade looked up and reached into her desk putting a set of key's inside of her jacket. "Naruto! Where Have you been?! I've been looking for you for day's!"

Naruto stopped a few feet from her desk just outside her striking range "Sorry Baa-Chan. I have been kinda busy the past few days!"

Tsundae gave an evil grin "OH REALLY? And just what have you been doing?"

"Not that! I Would never do something like you and Pervy Sage would do!" he shouted get a little more angry than nessecary.

"alright, come on we need to get going." Tsunade got up and headed for the door Naruto close behind her.

" Hey Baa-Chan, Where are we going anyways? Sakura said you had a late birthday present for me?" Naruto said catching up with her as they headed for the outskirts of town.

"well she was right about the gift, but I wont tell you until we get there." They turned and headed up a long narrow path between two open fields. Naruto looked ahead and say a very nice two story home. There was a small koi pond out front surrounded by a small meditation garden. The house itself was very plain. With white paint and only a few windows the only thing that was interesting about the face of the house was the front door, it was a solid oak door with intricate carvings. Each one was they symbol for one of the twelve years.

"Ummm, tsundae what are we doing here?" Naruto asked as they reached the front door and stopped

She turned and faced him with a very serious look on his face "Naruto, you've reached the age now where you are considered a man. And as such I feel its time that you started living like one so here." She said pulling the keys from her pocket and handing them to him "Welcome home!"

Naruto's jaw hit the floor, He couldn't believe what Tsunade was saying "W-w-what?" Tsunade smiled "Naruto, your like family to me, and as such I like to take care of you when I can. I know that this is something that will last you a long time. So come on open it up!" Tsunade practically yelled

Naruto unlocked the door and stepped inside only to be shocked once again.

Inside the front door there was a small coat closet, mirror and small table for his key's and such. As he made his way down the small hall he cam into the living room which had a large fireplace along with a matching couch and love seat in front of it. There was also a large tv on the adjacent wall and sereval painting of kohona's surrounding scenery.

Just off to the right was a dining room complete with a solid oak table and chairs already set, to the right of that was a full size kitchen with all the amenities. As he looked in the cabinets and fridge he saw that they had already been stocked with plenty of food.

They made their way to the other side of the house where he found a barthroom and a larger room which housed a small office for him. "wow Tsunade this place is amazing! Thank you so much!"

She smiled and nodded in appreciation "Your very welcome Naruto." they headed up stairs where they found four full size bedrooms and two bath rooms. Inside the master suite however he found a full size queen bed and en suite. Inside the en suite he found a deep claw-foot tub and large shower. Along with his and her's sink's.

As they finished the tour of the inside of the house Tsunade led him out to the back yard. Outside he found that there was a large sparing ground. Behind that he saw that there was a small man-made lake with a ladder for getting in and out. He also saw that there was a patio attatched to the house with a small fire pit built up above the ground along with an enclosed bath house. As they exited the house Naruto thanked Tsunade again.

As they headed back towards the heart of town Naruto asked "Hey do you know where I can find I a really nice restaurant? I wanna take Hinata some place nice."

Tsunade thought for a second "I know of a place across town, it's a really nice place but it's kind of expensive."

Naruto thought for a second "whats the name of the place? I'll go check it out."

"it's kenji's house is the name" she reached in her coat and pulled out a pen and pad writing down the address. "here's the address, just go by and see, you could probably get a reservation for tonight if you wanted."

Naruto thanked her and headed across town in search of the restaurant. When he finally found it he was surprised to see that it was just a small white building with the words _kenji's house_ .

As he stepped inside he saw that it was dimly lit as to give the patrons privacy. There were only booths that were all separated by walls. He looked up and saw a woman standing at a podium smiling.

As he approached she asked "can I help you?" Naruto sighed "yeah I was wondering if I could look at a menu, I want to take my girlfriend out to a really nice dinner, but I don't know if I can afford it?" she nodded and handed him a menu. He looked and saw that as Tsunade had said it was kind of expensive but it wasn't too bad.

He handed the menu back to the girl "can i make a reservation?" the girl nodded and opened her book "sure what time did you want it for and what was the name?"

"say seven-thirty, and the name is uzumaki."

The girl jotted down the information "ok, your all set and it was only two in your party correct?" Naruto nodded thanking the girl and heading out.

He took off heading for the Hyuga house excited to tell Hinata what had happened.

Meanwhile at the Hyuga complex Hinata was deep in thought as she paced back and forth in her room. She was already dressed in her usual pant jacket and shirt with her headband around her neck.

She was so happy for the past few day's Naruto had been spending more and more time with her. She hoped they could go on an actual date soon.

She heard a knock at the front door and headed downstairs to answer. When she did she was surprised as she was lifted in the air and spun around by Naruto.

She laughed and smiled looking down at him "Naruto what's gotten into you?"

He smiled and set her down kissing her on the cheek and pulling her into a hug "I missed you, and I have a lot to tell you!" he followed her into the living room and sat down on the couch pulling her close into his arms.

She sighed and rested her head on his chest, she loved it when it was just the two of them. He could be so affectionate when he wanted to; "so what did you want to tell me?"

Naruto explained about Tsunade's gift and asked if she wanted to go and see the house. She smiled "Sure, let's go!" she got up leading him out the door and then following him to the house which wasn't actually that far from where she lived.

As he gave her the full tour of the house she couldn't help but picture raising a family here with him and living there. Naruto noticed that she had a distant look on her face and thought maybe she wasn't interested "Hinata, are you ok? If this is boring we can go do something else if you want?" he said stepping aside to let her into the back area.

She snapped back to reality blushing at the thoughts she was having "no no, it's fine I was just thinking. That's all."

He nodded "so what were you thinking about?"

She turned a deep shade of crimsion and stuttered again "N-n-othing!" she stammered out alittle too quickly.

"come on you can tell me, I won't laugh I promise!" he said hoping that she would just trust him.

She sighed knowing he wouldn't give up till he knew. "ok, I was thinking about the future, about us?"

Naruto was confused and said as much "HUH?"

She sighed "I was thinking about living here? And raising a family with you?" she blushed again as she said this fully telling him her dreams.

Naruto smiled and pulled her into his arms wrapping her in a hug. He nuzzled her hair s he spoke "Hinata, don't ever be afraid to tell me the truth. I love you and always's will" he pulled his head back and just stared into he lavender eyes.

In them he saw how much she cared for him. That she would always be there no matter what.

He leaned down and kissed her slowly licking at her teeth, he was surprised however when she opened her mouth and began to explore his with her tounge.

He felt heat in his limbs as he kissed her holding her tight trying to show her that he cared as much as she did.

Hinata's brain was on overload as they kissed. She continued with her tongue as she pulled narutop closer. She knew what he was trying to say in their kiss. She finally stopped and nlaid her head on hios chest nuzzling him.

"oh, hey before I forget, I made reservations tonight. So be ready at six thirty ok? Were going out tonight!"

Hinata gasped and blushed "ok where are we going"

Naruto explained and Hinata gasped "Naruto that's one of the nicest places in town, are you sure?"

He nodded "Nothing's too good for you!"

"but I don't have anything to wear! I have to go! I will see you tonight!" she said kissing him again before dashing out the door. Naruto felt the breath leave his lungs as she kissed him and ran off.

Hinata ran home and grabbed her purse heading back out the door so fast Hiashi didn't even have time to ask where she was going. She headed downtown and started looking for a shop she had seen a few weeks ago before Naruto's party.

As she walked through the crowded streets she spotted the shop and looked into the window for a moment trying to decide o what she was looking for. "Hinata!"

She heard the voice and smiled as she spotted sakura and Ino running in her direction. She said hello as they stopped to catch their breath.

"what are you doing here?" sakura asked as she re adjusted her bag's she was carrying.

Hinata explained why she was there and what had happened. "Oh wow Hinata! He must really love you! I can't even get Kiba to look in my direction!" Ino said

"well I need some help if that's ok? I really don't know what to wear tonight." Hinata said with a small blush on her face.

Sakura and Ino looked at each other and exchanged evil grins "ok! Lets go!"

All three girls entered the shop and started looking through the racks and racks of clothes for something Hinata could wear.

As they searched Hinata came across a white dress that she thought looked amazing. It was a long dress that would stop at her ankles. She noticed that it was very thin and thought it would probably fit snug on her, the sleeves looked like they would come just below her elbows which she thought was kind of unique.

She grabbed the dress and headed for the changing room and quickly tried the dress on looking in the full length mirror. She gasped as she saw that just as the thought the dress was sort of snug on her but no so much that it gave the wrong impression. It was then that she noticed that the dress was covered in a light dusting of glitter that made it appear that she was glowing.

"SAKURA! INO! Come and look at this!" she shouted as she exited the changing room with the dress still on.

Sakura rounded the corner and audibly gasped! Ino Shortly appeared by her side and felt her jaw drop as both girls saw what dress that Hinata had found. Both girls couldn't help but think that she looked amazing! The dress literally made Hinata look like she had just been dropped out of hevan!

"Hinata, Where did you find that?! That dress is amazing! Wow!" sakura said as she approached the girl.

Ino was still speechless as she approached Hinata and looked the dress over. When Hinata changed back into her regular clothes Ino had finally found her voice saying "You have to buy that one! That's the dress! Naruto wont know what hit him when he see's you in that!"

Hinata smiled and headed for the counter. As she approached the counter the woman running the register smiled "hi there! Can I help you?

Hinata laid the dress on the counter "how much is this one?" the woman looked the dress over and back to the girl again. "it's eighty five dollars for the dress and it comes with this sash, would you like this in a bag or just carry it on a coat hanger?"

Hinata paid the woman saying " just leave it on the hanger please." She grabbed the dress and headed out the door to meet her friends again.

Sakura and Ino both grinned like Cheshire cats as Hinata exited the store "so Hinata, you planning on having _fun_ with Naruto tonight?" sakura asked as the walked back towards the Hyuga house.

Hinata gasped as she caught on to what sakura was asking and blushed as she stammered out a reaponse "N-NO! I don't think of Naruto that way! I love him, and that should be saved for marriage!"

Sakura giggled "ok ok! Just asking, well here's your place, we'll see you tomorrow ok? We can train at Naruto's for a while! Don't forget!" she called as she and Ino walked away

Hinata sighed and headed into her house hanging the dress up in her room and laying down for a short nap before getting ready for tonight.

Meanwhile Naruto was back at his house finishing moving the last of his things into his new house. As he unpacked the last box he came across a black dress shirt and pant's he had forgotten he owned. The shirt was made of silk but it was sewn in such a way that it looked like the seamstress had dusted the shirt in red. She sighed as he saw the shirt was wrinkled and the pants covered in dust. He headed out back and heated some water pouring it into a washtub along with some soap powder and commenced to washing the shirt and pants hanging them out to dry.

He sighed as he sat on the couch and thought about Hinata. She was so beautiful, she grown over the past year since he had been gone. He knew she had gotten a lot stronger but he couldn't help but think about how much she had filled out. Her long legs and tempting curves.

He noticed where his thought's were headed and shook his head clearing them out *crap! Pervy Sage is Starting to Rub off on me!* he headed into the house and jumped into the shower turning on the cold water trying to calm himself down.

He knew this was to be expected as he was a man, but he couldn't let Hinata know! He was afraid that she would take it as an offense and leave him. He couldn't even bear the thought of her leaving.

As he finished washing the soap from his body he turned the water off and grabbed a towel drying off as he headed into his room. He changed into a jean 's and t-shirt and heade back out into town.

He wanted to surprise Hinata with a gift but all his money needed to go for the dinner tonight. It was then that he noticed a sign in a shop window, RAFFLE TICKETS FOR SALE! ONE DOLLAR EACH!

He stopped and entered the shop approaching the counter. There was an older man behind the scribbling on a pad.

He looked up and asked "can I help you with something?" Naruto nodded "what are the raffle tickets for?"

The man smiled "well for every ticket you buy you get a chance to win the pot. Which is a just a term I use for the money people bought tickets with. Basically all the money people spend on tickets is what I use for prize money."

Naruto nodded "how much is the _pot_ up to now?"

The man looked back at his pad again "right now its up to five hundred dollars, you want to buy a ticket son?" Naruto nodded and handed the man a dollar.

The man tore off a ticket and handed it to him "now just sign your name and address to the back and when I draw the tickets in a minute, then we'll see if you won."

Naruto scribbled his name on the back and handed the man the ticket. The man walked over to a large cage he had filled with tickets. He looked at the clock and chuckled "well its four 'o' clock now. Time to pick a winner."

The man picked the cage up over his head and gave it a few violent shakes before setting it down and pulling out a ticket at the bottom of the cage.

He pulled a pair of glasses from his pocket and read the ticket "Naruto Uzumaki, is that you kid?" he said looking at Naruto.

"YEAH!" Naruto shouted jumping in the air. He walked to the counter and the man handed him a roll of bills "you sure are lucky kid, comeback and play anytime you want we have drawings once a week."

Naruto thanked the man and left heading for another shop down the street; he knew exactly what he wanted to get Hinata now.

Later that evening as Naruto approached the Hyuga house with a bouquet of lavender flowers he couldn't help but be nervous as this was his and Hinatas first date. He sighed and knocked on the door expecting Hiashi to answer.

Instead he was greeted by Hinata's younger sister hinabi. She smiled and stepped aside letting him in.

"she'll be down in a second" she said walking with Naruto into the living room. He sat down on the sofa as he waited asking hinabi "so you're a ninja too right?"

Hinabi nodded "yes but im not as good as Hinata, she has better chakra control than I do and she has more expiernce in the field as well. I just hope I can do well when my chance comes."

Naruto began to speak but stopped as Hinata rounded the corner. She was in her new white dress with the sash in her arms and stretched across her back. Her normally long hair was pulled into a bun and held together with a pair of sticks, she had a small amount of blush on her cheeks and had applied lipstick as well.

Naruto felt his jaw drop as he stared at the goddess before him. Hinata blushed and asked

She smiled as she noticed Naruto's reaction to her dress. She couldn't help but notice that he looked very handsome as well. The red that was sewn into his shirt made his eye's look even bluer if that was possible and the black made his features stand out more.

She blushed as she realized that she was staring "do you like it Naruto-kun?" she turned and showed him the whole dress front and back.

He still couldn't find his voice as she turned. She looked amazing, and the way the light shown on her made her look like she was literally glowing.

He got up and handed her the flowers taking her arms in his "you look like a goddess! Where did you get this?" he said bringing his hand to her face and caressing her cheek.

She nuzzled his hand and pulled away looking at hinabi "will you put these in my room please? We need to get going." Hinabi nodded and took the flowers from her sister.

As they headed out the door and headed down the road; a few minutes later they were entering the restaurant and approached the podium "we have a reservation under uzumaki?" the man nodded and grabbed two menus "follow me please"

He led them to a small secluded booth in a corner of the restaurant. As they took their seats across from each other the man handed them both a menu. "your server will be along in a moment to take your order."

They nodded and began to look over the menu; shortly after a woman in a collared shirt and black pants with a small apron around her waist approached the table pulling a pencil and pad from her apron.

"what can I get you to drink?" she asked looking at Naruto; who was busy looking at the drink selection "Ummm, I'll have an coke." The woman jotted down and turned to Hinata who glanced up saying "a water will be fine thanks." The woman jotted down the drinks and then faced them both asking "are you ready to order? Or would you like a minute?"

Naruto looked over at Hinata asking "do you need a minute?" she shook her head "no, I'm ready whenever you are."

He faced the waitress "I'll have the peaking duck and fried rice." The woman nodded and turned to Hinata.

"and what would you like mam?" Hinata looked back at the menu for a second. "I'll have the pepper and onion steak with teriyaki sauce and the fried rice as well."

The woman nodded as she finished writing down the orders "ok, would you like any dessert?"

Naruto looked and saw that they made a spiced apple and cinnamon cake for dessert "we would like the apple _streusel _cake?" the woman nodded again jotting down the final bit of the order. "ok then I will be back in just a moment with your drinks." She collected the menu's a and left the couple alone.

She left and Naruto relaxed as they finally had a moment alone together. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful woman across from him. She was everything he wanted and he knew that he always wanted her by his side.

Hinata noticed Naruto staring and started to blush. He had this look in his eye's that she couldn't place, it was like he was truly seeing her for the first time. "Naruto?"

He snapped out of the trance he was in smiling his goofy grin at her "Hinata, I just want to say, I Love You."

She continued to blush but felt her heart race at the comment. She then smiled as she got an idea "well that's too bad because I love you more."

He chuckled as he saw where she was going with this "well that's impossible a I love you more than that."

They continued with this game until finally Naruto reached into his pocket saying "well this is how much I love you." He said handing her a small long black box.

Hinata was surprised at the gift, but gladly accepted it. She opened the box and gasped at what she saw inside.

The necklace was made from pure gold and so fluid that Hinata was sure when she picked it up that it would melt in her hands. In the center of the necklace was a grouping of four stones.

one was a diamond cut with a fire burst facet. Another was an emerald cut with a beveled set of edges to help it shine. Next was an oval shaped sapphire that was as deep blue as the color of Naruto's eyes. Finally the last was an amethyst shaped like a small heart that was almost the same shade of lavender as her eyes.

As she felt tears well in her eyes, he never ceased to amaze her. After all that he had endured he still found the time and money to get her an amazing gift. She was the luckiest girl in the world.

"Naruto how did you get this?" she said putting it around her neck still amazed at the beauty of the gift.

He explained about the raffle ticket drawing and how he had gone straight from there to the jewelry shop.

She smiled and reached across the table pulling her face close to hers, giving him a long kiss in appreciation.

As they separated the waitress arrived with their food and they quickly finished their meal. As the dessert course was brought out, Naruto switched seats to sit next to Hinata as they ate.

He grinned as he got an idea and tapped her shoulder. She stopped mid bite and turned as he held up his fork to feed her.

She giggled and accepted the bite returning the favor. They fed each other the rest of their dessert quickly. Naruto paid for the meal and took Hinata's hand as they left the restaurant heading back towards his house.

When they arrived Naruto led Hinata out onto the back patio and started a small fire in the pit. He went inside quickly returning with a blanket to cover them.

He took her in his arms and covered them with the blanket while sitting in front of the fire. She sighed and settled into his embrace resting her head on his chest. She wished that she could live everyday like this. As the fire continued to burn they both slowly fell asleep in each other's arm's unaware of the watching eyes from a distance in the woods.

Hiashi grinned "alright Naruto, you want her? Well you can have her" he retreated back to the Hyuga house and prepared himself for the plans he already was concocting for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4: Kicked out A New Home

I do not own Naruto or any characters thereof!

Just as a quick not to my readers I stayed up all night writing this chapter so I could post it ASAP. So please enjoy!

* * thought's

" "conversation

_Whispering and or writing_

_**Chapter 4: kicked out; a new home?**_

As the sun rose over the treetop's Hinata slowly awoke to find herself asleep in Naruto's arms. She smiled as she remembered the night before.

She reached up to her necklace and slowly traced the gemstones with her fingertips. The gift was so amazing to her. Yes some might say that it was just a simple necklace. But to her it showed he how much he really cared that he was willing to take the time and look for something that she would truly enjoy.

She laid her head back on his chest and listened to his heartbeat as he slept and smiled. She wished she could stay here forever.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked down to be greeted by Hinata's beautiful face. As the sunlight slowly crept up the two of them he lowered his head and gave her a slow kiss.

She sighed and he kissed her and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him deeper into the kiss.

As the parted lips he smiled giving her an Eskimo kiss "good morning beautiful"

"good morning, umm I don't mean to spoil the moment Naruto, but I need to get home before my father realizes I've spent the night here."

Naruto shuddered at the thought. He didn't want to think about what Hiashi might do if he knew that Hinata had spent the night at his house.

As she got up and headed back through the door he grabbed her hands and pulled her back into his arms and hugged her from behind whispering in her ear "hurry back love, I miss you now and you haven't even left yet"

She sighed and looked back over her shoulder smiling and pressing her lips to his "I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." She left through the front door and hurried home.

As she approached the front doors of the Hyuga house she pulled her key's from her purse but was shocked to find they didn't work. She quickly noticed that there were several trunks in the small alcove next to the door and a note attached to them.

It read:

_Dear Hinata,_

_I know that you spent the night at_ his _house. As of know I disown you from the Hyuga family until you break off your relationship with Naruto. All of your clothes and belongings are in the trunks. You may take your time in moving to wherever you want. I no longer care._

_Hiashi Hyuga_

Tears welled in Hinata's eyes as she read the note again and then a third time. Why? Why did he hate Naruto so? She didn't understand!

She ran back to Naruto's house and burst through the door crumbling to the floor and crying.

Naruto heard the door fly open as he changed into a pair of jeans after a shower. He ran to the front door and saw Hinata kneeling in the floor and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hinata!" Naruto said wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close "What happened? What's wrong?

She sniffled and handed him the letter. She could see the rage grow in his eyes as he read and slowly raised her hands tracing his face.

When she did this his expression softened and he picked her up carrying her in his arms and laying her on his bed in the master room.

"rest easy my love, I'll go and collect your thing's for you." He said leaving her there still sobbing.

As he pulled on a t-shirt he ran out the door heading for the Hyuga house.

When he arrived as saw that there was close to fifty trunks or more piled in front of the door, he also noticed a vase with the lavenders he had given Hinata the night before.

In the midst's of the flowers he found a small envelope with Hinata's name written on it, the envelope was unsealed so Naruto slowly pulled the letter from it casing and opened it to read:

_Hinata,_

_I know what Hiashi has done and I am truly sorry, however there is a way that I can help. Father has been giving me a certain allowance each month for spending money. Though I believe it's too much I have been putting it away for some time now. In the trunk that holds all of your clothes I have sealed a package with the money inside. Please use this to start a new life. I love you and Neji send's his love too._

_Hinabi_

Naruto quickly put the letter back in the envelope and faced the luggage "Shadow clone jutsu!"

Fifteen Naruto's appeared and formed the hand sign again "Shadow clone jutsu" soon enough there were a hundred Naruto's carrying Hinata's things toward his house.

Hiashi glared as he watched from a window above the doorway. The boy formed his clones and carry Hinata's things towards his own home. He did not know when but he was confident that Hinata would return home quickly.

She had no money no food and no one to care for her. Hiashi smiled as the considered the brilliance of his plan, even though Hinata wasn't his favorite child, he knew she was also a Hyuga which meant that she was accustomed to a riche lifestyle. She would be back and soon.

Back at the house Hinata had stopped crying and walked into the master bath to wash her face.

She sighed as she dried her face and looked into the mirror. She knew this day would come she just was not prepared for it to happen so quickly. She knew she could make a living as a ninja, but she did not know where she was going to live. She heard a noise downstairs and quickly ran to the stairs and saw Naruto and his clones carrying her things into the house.

She met them all as they finished setting all the luggage down in the main room. The clones slowly disappeared leaving only the real Naruto. She quickly wrapped her arms around his waist resting her head on his chest.

He rested his head on top of hers and gently stroked he hair as he held her in his arms. He slowly released her and pulled the envelope from his pocket showing it to her.

She quickly read the letter, as she did so Naruto watched her eye's grow wide with shock and astonishment. She quickly pressed the letter into Naruto's hand and started searching through her trunks until she found her clothes. She found a small plain cardboard box and quickly set it down on the kitchen table. Naruto came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and settled his head beside hers.

"so you want to open it? Or just wait until we get all your things put away?"

Hinata quickly turned to face Naruto with a puzzled look on her face "what do you mean?"

Naruto chuckled "well I just assumed you would move in one of the other bedrooms, I mean that is, if you want to?"

Hinata began to smile and quickly jumped into Naruto's arms grabbing the sides of his face and kissing him. His hand grabbed her waist and he was surprised at her response.

" so I take that as a yes?" he said laughing as he set her back on the ground. She was still giggling as he set her down.

Hinata beamed as she held stood in front of Naruto still dressed in her clothes from the night before "yes, yes, yes and a thousand more yeses! It would be a dream come true!"

She quickly noticed that she was still wearing her formal dress and blushed asking "Ummm, Naruto? I need to change and get a shower, would you mind if I used yours?"

He nodded "sure, I'll move your stuff into the room across the hall from mine while you clean up."

She quickly grabbed a change of clothes and her toiletries, headed back upstairs, and quickly locked herself inside the master bath.

As Naruto carried Hinata's things into her room across from his he heard the shower start and his mind wandered to thoughts about her body.

He wondered what she looked like under her clothes. He had done research when coming up with his sexy jutsu but he had never actually seen a woman naked.

He realized where his thoughts were leading him and quickly banished them from his head by forcing himself to focus on the task of bringing her luggage up to her room, ignoring the sounds of the shower as he worked.

Hinata sighed as she felt all her muscles relax under the pulse of the hot water from the shower. She quickly washed her body and hair so she could just sit and enjoy the water's calming effect on her. She sighed and turned the water off grabbing a towel from the rack and wrapping it around her body.

She quickly grabbed a second and wrapped her hair in it. She grabbed her clothes and quickly pulled on her underwear and a pair of black short. They fit snug as to show her curves she normally would not wear them but for some reason today she felt like it. She quickly put on her bra and fishnet shirt and three quarter sleeve over shirt. She quickly took the towel out of her hair and after thoroughly drying it brushed it back to its smooth and shiny self.

She exited the bathroom and saw Naruto carrying the last of her things into her room. She followed quickly jumping on his back and kissing his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist as he set the last box down in front of her bed.

He felt her smile as she slowly put her feet on the floor remaining on her tiptoes so she could rest he head on his shoulder.

"Thank you so much for all the help Naruto, I really appreciate it." She said stepping around in front of him and opening the Box, he had just set down.

It turned out that it contained several books and scroll which she quickly started to go through. As he saw she was looking for a particular book Naruto began to aid her in her search asking "what are you looking for?"

She blushed and lowered her head before answering " my diary" she whispered as she continued her search. Naruto quickly found a small purple book with bold letters on the front saying "Hinata's DIARY"

He smiled and held the book up out of her reach saying "is this it?" she looked up and quickly jumped to her feet reaching as high as she could to get her book back.

But her efforts were to no avail as he just chuckled saying "maybe I'll just go read this in the office downstairs?" he slowly started to walk out the door but was stopped when she quickly closed and locked it.

Hinata smiled saying "please give it back?" she gave him her best puppy dog eyes and pouty lips look trying to make him cave-in.

Naruto stopped and almost did give in however caught on at the last second and smiled "Sorry that won't work on me."

She quickly changed tactics pressing her body against his while reaching for the book. She saw him blush and craned her neck to kiss him.

Naruto felt the blood rush to his face as Hinata approached him and pressed herself against him. She had this look in her eyes that he couldn't place.

She kissed him and started walking so that she was standing with the bed at her back, as she sat down she continued to kiss him and he forgot about the book in his hand.

When he finally lowered it enough she snatched it from his hands. "GOT IT!" she cried and quickly slipped the book underneath her rear.

Naruto cursed himself for letting her trick him that easily, but then got another idea. He quickly returned to kissing her sitting down next to her and pulling her on top of him as he laid back.

His hands wandered her back and pressed her against him as they kissed. He felt her tongue enter his mouth and he quickly reciprocated.

She felt a wave of heat wash over her as she felt Naruto's tongue move over her own. She quickly noticed the compromising position they were in and sat straight up not realizing she was straddling his waist with her own.

Naruto smiled "what's wrong? Did you not enjoy it?"

She quickly got off him and sat with her legs hanging off the bed. "Naruto, you know I love you. But that is something I am going to save for marriage. I want to remain pure until my wedding night. Please?"

He sat up putting his hands on her forearms and kissed her cheek "of course. I would never make you do anything Hinata. If you want to wait until then, then so be it."

She smiled and turned to face him but the smile quickly vanished and he saw a look of confusion cross her face "What's wrong my love?"

She sighed "I just don't understand why my father hates you so much. What could have possibly driven him to such anger? "

Naruto tensed and sighed as he realized that Hinata had absolutely no idea about the nine-tailed fox inside him.

"Hinata, there's something I need to tell you."

He got up off the bed and took off his shirt facing away from her as he did "have you heard of the legend of the nine-tailed fox?"

Hinata thought for a second. It sounded familiar but she could not place where she had heard about it before.

"I think so but I'm not sure why? What does that have to do with my father?" she asked

"years ago the fox attacked the village and nearly destroyed everything here. But before he could the fourth hokage found a way to seal the fox inside someone so that when that person died the fox would die along with it. He selected a baby, and sealed the fox within that baby."

Naruto turned and gathered the foxes chakra and revealed the seal on his stomach "that baby was me." He released the chakra and continued "the hokage thought that people would see me as a hero and take care of me. But all people saw was the spirit inside of me and hated me for it."

Hinata just stared at Naruto for a moment unable to speak. She was heartbroken, after all that he had sacrificed for this village people still hated him. Even though it wasn't his fault. She felt tears well into her eyes.

Naruto saw her reaction and sighed "I understand if you want to leave me, you can have the house and everything with it, please I don't want to make you unhappy."

He turned and was reaching for the door when suddenly Hinata jumped up and threw her arms around his stomach anchoring him in place.

"NO! please don't leave! The only way I will be unhappy is if you ever leave me!" she sobbed letting the tears run down his back.

He turned and pulled her close holding her close resting her head on his chest as she continued "I don't care what other people think. You are not the nine-tailed fox. If people could see you like I do then they would all see you as a hero!"

He felt the tears come to his eyes as he rested his head on hers. Slowly they began to trickle their way down his face and into her hair. She had accepted him, kyubki and all, no matter what.

He lifted her chin again and kissed her saying afterwards "Hinata I love you."

"I love you too," she sighed and yawned as she pulled out of his embrace.

He chuckled "it's been a long day, why don't we get some rest and figure out our next move in the morning ok?"

At that moment thunder crashed and lightning flashed across the sky outside and Hinata jumped quickly pulling herself to Naruto.

He chuckled again "Hinata are you afraid of storms?" she blushed and nodded

"well if you want you can stay with me tonight? Like we did last night."

She smiled "sure, that sounds good. I'll be over in a minute." As he exited the room she quickly pulled out a pair off ,long baggy purple shorts and a large purple t-shirt she slept in.

She quickly changed and met Naruto in his room where he had changed into a pair of black sleeping pants with orange flames all over them. He was already in bed under the comforter when another flash of lightning illuminated the room quickly followed by the roll of the thunder.

She quickly climbed under the sheets and settled into his arms with her back turned to him. He wrapped his arms around her resting his hand on her stomach.

She turned her head and kissed him one last time before drifting off top sleep. Naruto watched her for a few moments and the slowly fell asleep himself content to spend the rest of his day with her in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

YAY! I Finally Own Naruto! **NOT!**

OK guy's, for the next few chapters I'm going to be introducing some new couples as some small back story for some new books I may start. now I know this isn't the greatest pairing in the world but I have always thought that Kiba and Ino made a cute couple. If anyone has a better idea please let me know.

As always please, PLEASE! Leave me a review! The reviews are what inspires the next chapter.

* * thoughts

" " conversation

_dreams and whispers_

**Chapter five: Learning to swim; **

Hinata awoke the next morning and smiled as she remembered who's arms she had wrapped around her. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled as she saw he was still sleeping.

"_Hinata?" _he mumbled and nuzzled closer to her. At first she thought he had woken up but realized he was just talking in his sleep.

She giggled and carefully turned around facing him listening to him as he continued to sleep.

_Naruto walked to the doorway of his bedroom and came to a stop as he saw Hinata sitting on the edge of his bed. She was dressed in a flimsy nighty. The material was a subtle shade of purple and see through, the bra and panties underneath were made of sheer lace, There were only three places where the lace was thick enough not to see. She stood walking towards him saying, "are you ready Naruto?"_

_He stood there as she walked towards him swinging her hips and smiling._

Hinata watched as Naruto's smile grew wider and he started talking again saying her name "_Hinata"_ she giggled and kissed him on the lips trying to wake him up.

"I'm right here my love." She whispered slowly pulling herself away from his grip. She quietly got out of bed, stood at the end, and grinned "Naruto I'm making ramen." She said quietly watching him sleep.

He sat straight up and smiled "too bad, I'm not hungry"

She laughed, "are you sure? I think your stomach would disagree." She said hearing his stomach growl at him.

He got up, grabbed a change of clothes heading for the shower, and then stopped "Hinata, did you find your bathing suit yesterday?"

She nodded confused by his question "why?"

He smiled "because I have an idea!" he quickly grabbed his swimming trunks and ran into the bathroom to change.

When he came back out she blushed as she saw he hadn't bothered to put a shirt back on. Her eyes traveled over the top portion of his body.

she swore that his abs were carved in they were so well defined, his arms and chest were broad and strong looking. All in all she couldn't help but admire how much he had filled in over the years.

He noticed she was staring and a grin began to creep across his face. He was proud of his muscle's like any normal guy, but for him it meant more when Hinata enjoyed them.

He raised his arms and began flexing his biceps "like what you see baby?" he smiled as she blushed and turned her head to avoid staring anymore.

He smiled and came up behind her putting his hands on her arms and looking over her shoulder at her "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." She smiled and turned her head facing him again "you didn't I just wanted to stop staring. I'll go change and be back."

When she had left Naruto went downstairs and opened a small closet in the hall pulling two towels out and throwing one over each shoulder. As he turned to head back upstairs he noticed that Hinata was on her way down and his jaw dropped.

She had changed into a two-piece light purple bikini. It showed off her toned legs and stomach revealing more of her pale skin than he had ever seen before. Her long hair swayed back and forth, as she made her way down the stairs towards him. She smiled as she saw his mouth and her eyes open wide.

She swung her hips a little more than they normally would as she got closer to him and then stopped at the bottom step bringing her up to eye level with him. "see anything you like my macho man?" she turned a full circle on the stairs in front of him.

He dropped the towels on the floor and picked her up by her waist and spun around with her staring deep in her eyes "I see a lot I like but only one thing I truly want" he said as he lowered her and kissed her running his tongue over hers.

She opened her mouth and gave him access, she quickly explored his mouth as he did hers. As the kiss deepened she felt him press against her and pull her into him.

She sighed as they kissed and ran her hands over his back and pulled slowly away "Naruto? why did you have me change into my bathing suit?" she asked as he lowered her to the ground and picked up the towels again.

"I'll show you" he said leading her out the back and to the small pond. She gasped as she saw the cool clear water met even with the ground she was standing on. He quickly set the towels on the ground and jumped head first into the water splashing her as he did.

He laughed and looked back at the shore to see Hinata still standing there looking like she was frozen to the spot she was standing in.

"Hinata, is something the matter?" he asked swimming close to the edge holding himself up on his arms.

He heard her mumble something but she said it so low he couldn't understand her "I'm sorry what was that? I couldn't hear you"

"_Naruto I can't swim"_ she said a little louder this time so he could hear her. He instantly began to laugh.

Instantly her head shot up and anger flared inside her. "WHAT'S SO FUNNY?" she almost screamed at him. Naruto gulped as he saw that he had upset her.

" I just was laughing at the fact that you're a ninja that can walk on water but you can't swim?" Hinata thought for a second and then giggle and in the same breath looked back at him asking, "hey how do you know I can walk on water?"

Naruto gulped and slowly retreated away from the edge where she could hit him "you remember we had that mission with Kiba and Shino a while back? Well I heard a noise at a nearby waterfall and saw a girl there dancing on the water. I didn't realize it was you till later."

If looks could have killed Naruto would have been dead "did you **see **me?" she asked before getting closer to the water and sitting on the edge of the pond and kicking her legs in the water.

"No, all I saw was the girls silhouette and later when we were working on the mission I noticed your hair and body style was the same and I just assumed it was you."

She sighed, "well that's good. Because I was Ummm…." She hesitated and he swam up beside her so he could hear her better.

"What? What is it Hinata?" he said even though he could pretty much guess what she wanted to say. She lowered her head trying to hide the fact she had turned a deep shade of crimson red behind her hair "I was _naked _that day at the waterfall."

He pulled himself out of the water and wrapped his arms around her " I'm sorry I should have just left. If I had known it was you I would have run away."

She smiled and lifted her head looking deep in his eye's knowing that he was telling the truth that it had just been and accident.

"It's ok, so will you teach me to swim?" she asked standing up and lowering her into the water hanging on to the edge as he climbed in beside her.

"Sure, here wrap your arms around my neck and hang on." She turned and put her arms around his neck letting her legs and feet float below as he swam into a little deeper water

"now, I want you to take a deep breath and just let go and float on your back, since our bodies are filled with air we naturally float. " she tightened her grip around his neck for a moment looking up at him. "Naruto, I'm scared."

He smiled and nuzzled his head into her hair "don't worry I won't let anything happen to you, believe it!"

She smiled, she knew Naruto meant what he had said. So she slowly released her grip on his neck and took a deep breath. As she leaned back she started to sink a little and then began to float on top of the water.

He smiled and kept his hands on her back as she floated "good now I want you to slowly let the breath out and lean forward and start kicking your legs back and forth while moving your arms in a circle in front of you. Like your opening a curtain"

She nodded and leaned forward kicking her legs back and forth as she did, she started to sink Hinata quickly moved her arms in a circle as Naruto had instructed and rose back above the water level.

As she continued to swim Naruto smiled "YEAH! That's it you're doing great! Now as you do that turn to face the edge and slowly lean forward and bring your arms in a circle by your sides like your reaching for the top shelf but only go until you reach below the water like this." He quickly demonstrated what he mean showing her a basic front stroke.

She nodded and tried to do the same as Naruto had done but quickly sank as she had tried to go full circle with her arms. Naruto quickly dove below the surface and grabbed her in his arms kicking as hard and fast as he could.

When he broke the surface he grabbed the edge with one arm and used the other to keep her afloat. "you just need some practice that's all."

She nodded "thank you for saving me, let's go eat shall we?" he quickly followed her as she climbed out and began to dry herself off with the towel.

As they re-entered the house Naruto followed her into the kitchen where she was busy looking in his cabinets. She pulled out six eggs setting them in a bowl followed by an onion, a pepper, a small wedge of cheese and also a gallon of milk.

He watched as she cracked the eggs and whipped them up in the bowl. She then proceeded to take the cheese and grate it into the eggs. Followed by dicing the pepper and onion and adding them to the mix, finally she added salt and pepper and then started looking in the lower cabinets.

She pulled out a medium sauté pan and placed it on the stove setting the element on medium heat. She reached into the pantry and grabbed a small bottle of oil and poured a small amount into the pan.

As the oil heated and began to loosen she swirled it in the pan and then mixed the egg mixture once more before pouring it into the pan. Naruto heard the sizzle as the cold eggs hit the hot oil. She quickly found a small rubber spatial and began stirring the mix in the pan being sure not to burn anything.

She pulled down two plates and as the eggs finished cooking divided them in half setting each piece on a plate. She then poured them both a glass of milk and handed one of each to him.

He went to the table and sat his plate down and quickly pulled her chair out for her next to him as she entered with her food as well.

She smiled and thanked him as they quickly ate in silence. When they finished Naruto washed the dishes as Hinata put away the extra oil and cheese in their proper places.

Naruto dried his hands off and met her upstairs outside her room "we need to go and see Tsunade. She needs to know what happened."

Hinata nodded "yeah and I need to find a safe to keep that money in."

Naruto nodded "yeah, I think I know a safe place to put that too." He led her into his master closet and showed her a small cabinet in the back underneath a bench in the closet "it's just tall enough for a small safe and it comes with a lock on the door," he said producing a key "that way even if they open the cabinet they won't get anything."

They both left and got dressed for the day, Naruto in his black and orange outfit and Hinata in her black pants and shirt covered by her usual jacket.

They met outside their rooms and Naruto had this devilish look in his eyes "last one downstairs owes the other one a kiss!" he said jumping down the stairs.

Hinata smiled and jumped over the railing tucking her legs as she landed and rolling to the foot of the stairs as she stood she smiled at him as he finally reached the bottom. "I win" she said smiling up at him

He quickly leaned down and kissed her hard pulling her close as he did. He ended it quickly grabbing her hand saying "that's the only time I've ever enjoyed losing a bet."

Hinata blushed and led him out the door. As he locked the door she remembered he had said her name in his sleep and she wondered what he had been dreaming about.

"Naruto, what were you dreaming about last night?" she saw him visibly turn a deep red and shuffled his feet before answering.

"nothing why do you ask?" she smiled and grabbed his hand walking down the path towards town "because you said my name a few time's in your sleep and I was wondering why?"

He audibly gulped but stick to his story "nothing the dream was about nothing."

She giggled "fine but until you tell me the truth, you better believe I'm going to torture you!'

Naruto gulped again, this was going to be a long day!

_**Hope you guys like it, kinda short but I think it hits home, let me know in the reviews!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Stranger: hey don't you own Naruto?

Me: no, But man don't I wish!

Hey guys, I've been working really hard so that I could post five and six at the same time. Six starts out in Ino's point of view but I promise that I will get back to Naruto and Hinata ASAP.

* * thoughts

" " conversation

_Ino mid control talk_

Chapter 6; Doggone love; or Tsunade's deception.

Ino yawned and sat up in bed rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She sighed and opened her curtains to look down on the busy street below her apartment. She sighed as she saw Hinata and Naruto walking hand in hand down the street.

*It's not fair! Why can't find a guy like that?!* she sighed and quickly showered and changed out of her sleeping clothes and into her usual grey pants and purple shirt. She quickly straightened her hair pulling it into her usual ponytail and headed out the door.

As she locked her door, she turned the corner and ran straight into Kiba knocking akamaru off the top of his head. "Jeez Ino, watch where you're going please?" Kiba said rubbing the back of his head standing up.

Akamaru Barked agreement as Kiba picked him up and placed him on top of his head again.

She blushed and stood dusting herself off and turning to face him again "Sorry, I was just on my way out to get some breakfast."

She couldn't help but notice how handsome Kiba looked standing there with that wolfish grin on his face. Even though his features were more dog like than most she actually found it kind of sexy.

Kiba noticed that she was staring and recognized the way she was looking at him. "you want me to join you? We weren't really doing anything." Akamaru barked a few times as if trying to say "Yeah let's go!"

Ino nodded and followed him down the street until they came to a small shop on a corner. There weren't any tables, only a set of windows where you could see the cook top and ingridients on the other side.

They quickly ordered and waited as the cook prepared their order on his cooktop. Ino watched wide-eyed as they Man quickly and efficiently folding vegetables and meat into the egg mixture.

Kiba could not help but stare as Ino watched the man behind the glass. He knew she was a little high maintenance but he actually didn't mind that. She was hot and he wanted to see if maybe she would go out with him.

They grabbed their orders and quickly stepped outside the shop "hey I know I park nearby where we can eat if you want to?" Kiba nodded flashing his wolfish grin "sure lead the way." She said watching him pull open his second box and feeding the contents to akamaru on top of his head as they walked.

Kiba led them to a small-enclosed park where they found several small tables set up so people could sit. They quickly set down and opened their food. Ino quickly devoured hers followed soon by Kiba. He laughed as he grabbed her trash and three it in a can close by.

She smiled at the gesture "hey Kiba did you hear about Naruto and Hinata?" she asked as he sat back down setting akamaru on the table and scratching behind his ears.

"yeah, he told us the next day when me and Shino dropped by to see Hinata. Shino threatened hi m that if he ever hurt Hinata that he'd make him regret it."

Ino laughed at the thought of Naruto and Shino fighting "well at least we know he does care about her, I mean after what Hiashi made him go through? I don't know many guys who would do that for a girl."

Kiba watched as Ino lowered her head, she seemed so lonely and it pulled at his heart. "Ino, can I ask you something?"

She quickly looked up, coming face to nose with akamaru. He licked her on the cheek and she laughed again "sure what's up Kiba?"

She saw him turn a slight shade of red "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She smiled "why do you want to know?" she asked knowing why.

He smiled "not until you tell me." He said trying to turn the tables on her.

It was her turn to blush now as she looked down at akamaru running her hands through his fur "No, I don't have a boyfriend."

Kiba smiled "well you do now" he said leaning across the table and pressing his lips to hers. He felt her smile as he continued to kiss her. She quickly returned the kiss standing up and pulling him closer to her.

He pulled away and grabbed her hand "come on, let's go find Naruto and Hinata. He invited me and akamaru to come over and use his sparing ground today."

She smiled and leaned her head into his arm as they headed for Naruto's house "sure, maybe Hinata and I can do some training as well while you guys spar."

Meanwhile Naruto and Hinata had already told Tsunade of what Hiashi had done and what his conditions were.

After screaming and swearing Hiashi's name she finally calmed down.

After taking a moment to talk Tsunade sighed "I guess it's for the best anyways. Just be sure and take care of her Naruto, or I'll beat you senseless!" she threatened with a menacing glare in her eye.

Naruto smiled " no problem! Hinata's the best! I would never let anything happen to her! Believe it!"

Hinata blushed at Naruto's words. He turned and wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer kissing.

Tsunade chuckled, they were cute together. She had a thought "Naruto! before you leave can I have a word with you for a moment?"

Naruto looked at Hinata not wanting to let her leave without him. She smiled at the pleading look in his eyes "Don't worry I'll meet you downstairs ok?"

He nodded as she quickly made her way down to one of the lower levels. Naruto turned and faced Tsunade once again "what is it?"

She frowned at the annoyance in his voice but continued anyways "look, I know you two are serious ok? Just be sure you don't do anything you shouldn't before marriage ok?"

Naruto blushed at the insinuation "don't worry we won't, we both agreed to wait till marriage."

Tsunade nodded, as much as she trusted Naruto he was a man and it was harder for him to believe him on this particular subject. But if she knew Hinata was helping him in keeping this promise, then she knew she could rest easy.

"also I'm going to put some money away for you to use later. I'll let you know when you need it ok?"

Naruto nodded "Can I go now?" he asked almost whining as he did.

She smiled "yes just remember, your only on leave until the asutaki and irochimaru are dealt with ok?"

"yeah yeah, I know!" he yelled as he ran out the door.

He found Hinata out in one of the gardens walking along one of the path's toward the town. He snuck uo behind her and lifted her by her hips spinning her to face him and lowered her back to the ground kissing her as he did.

He grinned as he gave her a kiss on the nose "did you miss me?" he asked as they headed into town.

She smiled and leaned her head on his arm as they walked "terribly so!" she said

"Naruto why don't we just keep that money in that cabinet? There's really no need for a safe as long as were the only one's who know about it."

He nodded "sure, it's your money after all. Come on let's head home, Kiba and akamaru are supposed to be dropping by sometime to day to train."

Hinata smiled at the thought of seeing her teammate again, "Ok, race you? last one home has to kiss the other!" she said sprinting ahead of him.

He smiled and ran after her not caring if he lost or not.


	7. Chapter 7

I still do not own Naruto.

More reviews! Please!

Chapter 7: swimming in seduction;

Naruto gasped out of breath from trying to catch Hinata the whole way home. She smiled at him and sat down on the front steps watching him catch his breath. She had been there for a few minutes taking a shortcut she knew to get there before he did.

"well it look's like you lose again my love!' she said giggling as he sat down next to her as pulled her into his arms kissing her

"yeah" he said "but I still got the better end of that deal!" he kissed her again exploring her mouth with his tongue.

She sighed and did the same to his as they made out on the front steps. She felt his hands run across her back and down her sides. She felt a wave of heat spread throughout her body as he pulled her tighter into their embrace.

She finally broke the kiss when she thought she heard akamaru barking.

Sure enough he was standing at the foot of the stairs looking up at them wagging his tail and smiling. They laughed and followed him around to the back of the house.

As they approached the rear of the house, Naruto heard the sounds of a sparring match around back.

Hinata smiled as she recognized the sounds of Kiba's fighting. It had been a while since she had seen her friend and she was eager to catch up.

She pulled Naruto for a second as she rushed around back to see him and Ino in the middle of a sparring match.

They stopped as they saw the two round the corner, both drenched in sweat from fighting.

"Hey Naruto, thanks for inviting us over, this will really help in future missions." Kiba said as he grabbed Ino's hand approaching the couple.

Hinata felt a pang of jealousy for a second as she recognized they were together but it quickly passed as she could see that they were happy.

Naruto shook Kiba's hand as he reached for it. Akamaru barked standing next to Kiba. Naruto kneeled scratching behind his ears as Ino and Hinata headed inside the house.

"Naruto, I'm going to get Ino to help me prepare some packs. Do you need anything?" she asked as she opened the door into the house.

"I think were good," he said removing his jacket and shirt getting ready to spar.

As they closed the door, Hinata could hear the sounds of Naruto and Kiba beginning their sparring match. She smiled as she thought about how much she loved him.

Ino followed Hinata into the master bedroom and quickly gathered boxes of kunai and shuriken following Hinata back into the living room that was carrying packs and scrolls in her arms.

Hinata set the packs down and began to meticulously set scrolls inside each one handing them to Ino who then set the kunai and shuriken inside each one.

As they worked, Hinata couldn't help but ask "so how long have you and Kiba been going out?"

Meanwhile outside Naruto and Kiba had taken a break and were sitting with their feet in the pond as they talked. Naruto had just asked Kiba the same question about Ino.

"*****_**simultaneous conversation*" **__**Kiba talking **__**Ino talking **__**both saying same thing**_

"_I asked her this morning"_

"_It was so cool, he asked me today in the park and he kissed me!"_

"_She's really cool and akamaru likes her too! Not an easy task most times."_

"_He's really sweet and caring but he'll never admit to it. And akamaru is just adorable!"_

"_I just can't imagine anyone else I would want to be with."_

Naruto chuckled and shook Kiba's shoulder "yeah just be careful, you never know when she'll use her family's jutsu on you to see what you're thinking!"

Kiba's smile faded as he remembered her family's trade jutsu "man, I hope she didn't use it earlier when we were on our way here."

Naruto chuckled "let me guess what you were thinking…."

Kiba smacked Naruto sending him over the edge and into the pond. As Naruto resurfaced, he just laughed as he climbed back onto the edge and sat cross legged facing Kiba

"That's what I thought. Don't worry though; if you just talk to her I'm sure she'll understand, I mean you are a guy."

Meanwhile back inside the house, Ino was telling Hinata about after they left the park this morning "so we were walking along when I noticed he was staring at me for a second and then he suddenly stopped and wouldn't look at me for a few minutes. It was then I decided to use my mind swap jutsu. Boy let me tell you, the thoughts he was having…"

Hinata coughed loudly trying to tell Ino that she really didn't want to hear about that. Thankfully, Ino took the hint. However, she did have a few questions for Hinata.

"So Hinata, you and Naruto haven't done anything yet have you?" Ino asked as she finished filling the last pack setting it on the table.

Hinata turned a deep shade of red "no, we talked about it and we are going to wait till marriage. Though he still won't tell me what he was dreaming about this morning"

Hinata explained what had happened earlier this morning between her and Naruto and how she had told him that he would tell her today one way or another.

Ino grinned "I have an idea, do you have a spare bathing suit I can borrow?" she asked and she got up from her place at the table.

Hinata rose and led her into her bedroom quickly finding her spare blue bikini. However, she was embarrassed that this one was a thong.

"I'm sorry Ino, if you don't want to use it that's fine." Hinata said as she started to put the bathing suit away.

Ino grabbed the suit from Hinata "are you kidding? This is just what I need!" she laughed "if I wear this Kiba might actually feint!" she turned and started pulling off her clothes changing into the suit.

Hinata grabbed her bikini and faced away from Ino, she didn't mind changing in the same room as another girl, and she just couldn't stand the thought of looking. It wasn't right and really made her uncomfortable.

When they had finished changing, they headed back downstairs and heard Naruto and Kiba back at sparring. As they headed out the back door Ino pulled Hinata back inside with a small yelp.

"Ino what are you doing?" she asked as Ino pulled her back into the living room.

Ino quickly dashed into Hinata's room and came back with a bottle of sunblock. "We need to put this on if we don't want to get burned."

Hinata sighed "no offense Ino, but I don't really burn. And honestly a little color will do me good."

Ino sighed "ok, have it your way, let's go then." She said heading out the door and setting the bottle down on the table.

Naruto was getting tired of sparring with Kiba, three hours and this guy was still going strong, it was time to stop this.

He quickly made ten shadow clones and surrounded Kiba with the real Naruto at his back. Kiba smiled "don't forget, akamaru has my back Naruto."

Akamaru jumped off Kiba's head taking his human form once again and running at several cloned taking them out.

Meanwhile the real Naruto had already completed the necessary hand signs and shouted "puppet string jutsu!" instantly fifty chakra strings attached themselves all over Kiba.

Naruto smiled "akamaru return!" Kiba was shocked as he felt the string move his mouth in time with the words. Akamaru retreated to his post on top of Kiba's head. Slowly Naruto made Kiba turn and face him to see his grinning face.

"Where did you learn this?" Kiba strained with each word fighting the strings attached to him.

Naruto grinned, "When I was training with Jiraya we came across a traveling puppeteer. Instead of using string's he used his chakra to control the puppets so that he could be in the front of the show and tell the story as he made them act. It took me a few days but I finally mastered it."

He slowly relinquished his strings from Kiba and sat down in the dirt "no offense but I'm beat, why don't we…"

Naruto stopped mid-sentence as he saw Hinata and Ino coming out. Kiba turned and his jaw dropped as he saw Hinata and Ino.

The suit that Ino was wearing barley left anything to the imagination. It was a blue two-piece that the way she had it tied was extremely tight on her breasts. The bottoms covered her enough, but like the top, they were tight and didn't leave much to the imagination.

Ino smiled when she saw Kiba's reaction, she wondered what he would do when he saw the back of it?

Kiba quickly closed his mouth and grinned as they approached the sparring area "hey guys were going swimming you want to join us?"

Naruto stood "sure, we were just about to take a break anyways, what do you say Kiba?"

Kiba nodded "yeah, a swim does sound good. You got a spare suit I can borrow?"

Naruto nodded "yeah just let me go change and get it real quick." Naruto ran inside and was back in a flash changed and holding a spare suit.

Hinata blushed at the sight of Naruto shirtless again and quickly wiped away a sliver of drool from the corner of her mouth. *he's so handsome!* she thought as he came beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She smiled as he kissed her neck and nuzzled it afterwards "you sure you're ok? We can do something else if you want?"

Hinata smiled at the concern in his voice "no, it's ok. Besides I want to try and practice some more." She said as she turned her head and kissed him.

Kiba quickly re-appeared from the house in Naruto spare red trunks. Ino drooled as she saw Kiba coming out of the house. His strict training and diet had given him a rock hard set of abs not to mention the rest of his upper body was well toned and muscled as well.

She smiled as he came running over with akamaru close on his heels. "Last one in is a cat's hairball!" he shouted as he passed them by.

Ino quickly overtook him and he stopped dead in his tracks. She was intentionally shaking her hips as she ran to give her bottom more swing inside the thong she was wearing. With each step, she felt his eye's boring holes into it.

Kiba wiped the blood from his nose off on his arms and quickly chased after Ino. He wondered where she had gotten a suit like that. She jumped in the lake sending a wave of water crashing over him as he got to the edge.

Naruto walked with Hinata as they came around to where the ladder was and Naruto hopped in and swam close to the ladder s Hinata slowly climbed her way down into the water.

She reached out and put her hands back around his neck and started kicking her legs to help alleviate some of the weight he was carrying.

Naruto put his hands on her exposed waist, pushed off with his legs from the edge, and pulled them towards where Kiba and Ino were having a water fight.

Hinata let go of Naruto's neck and began to bring her arms in the motion Naruto had shown her earlier. She smiled as she began to stay afloat.

Ino looked over at Hinata "hey why didn't you just jump in?" she asked as she swam closer to Hinata.

Hinata blushed "because I can't swim very well just yet." She stated as she slowly made her way around trying to get a feel for how to move.

Ino was going to make a joke but shrieked as she was lifted high into the air on Kiba's shoulders and then tossed away from Hinata.

When she resurfaced, she was blushing bright red and quickly dove back under the water. When she came back up she quickly headed for the edge of the pool.

Kiba became confused for a second "hey, are you ok?" he asked starting to swim closer to where she was.

She quickly lowered herself in the water "NO! Don't come over here!" she shouted as he stopped mid-stroke.

He quickly noticed something floating a few feet off to his left.

*it couldn't be, could it?* he thought as he swam over grabbing the blue piece of material from the water top.

He laughed and held up the piece of fabric so she could see

"Do you need this?" he called showing her the top she had lost when he had tossed her into the water.

She nodded "please?" she smiled as he dove under the water and headed for her. As she saw he was coming up towards the surface, she released her breasts so that as he came up he got a very large eyeful.

When he surfaced Kiba coughed and sputtered at the water he had taken in. he had gasped when as he started to surface Ino had showed him what she had been hiding.

He smiled and held up her top "did you want this?"

She nodded covering her breasts again "yes please, will you give it here?" she said reaching for it with one arm trying to cover her breasts. Kiba jumped and swam away playing keep away as she tried to get it back.

Naruto just shook his head. As much as Kiba was a man, he was still a dog at heart.

He felt Hinata wrap her arms around his neck again; as they watched, the couple fights. Hinata smiled and kissed his neck "Naruto, what were you dreaming about this morning?"

He sighed she had been asking him all day and he still hadn't told her about it. He knew she wouldn't stop until he told her.

"If I tell you will you promise to get mad?" he felt her nod against his shoulder.

"I was dreaming about us having kids" he said flinching expecting her to smack him in the back of the head.

She smiled and pressed herself into his back nuzzling his shoulder with her head "it's ok to dream Naruto. We will have kids one day. That just gives us something to remind us to stay honest with each other."

He turned and faced her bringing her lips to his. She tried to deepen the kiss but forgot to keep kicking, and they started to sink.

Hinata wanted to pull away, but Naruto kept kissing her and she felt them stop just under the surface. She tried to stay as long as she could but had to surface for air after a few seconds.

She gasped and swam towards the ladder and sat down on one of the lower steps in the water. She looked up and saw Naruto swimming hard towards her with a worried look on his face.

"Are you ok?" he asked as he grabbed the sides of the ladder and pulled himself up to look her in the eyes.

She smiled and cupped his face in her hand "yes, I'm fine. I just needed some air. But I really enjoyed that kiss." She leaned forward and kissed him again.

He smiled and pulled himself out of the water and grabbed her hand walking around to the sitting area at the back of the house. They watched Ino continued to fight with Kiba for the top of her bathing suit as she tried to keep her breasts covered.

Ino finally stopped chasing him and swam over to where the ladder was and sat on the bottom step. Kiba swam over just out of her reach and held her top up to her.

"if you want this then let's make a deal?" Kiba said with a wolfish grin.

Ino scrunched her eyebrows together "what did you have in mind?" she asked still trying to keep herself covered.

"I'll give you your top back, **IF** you stand up and drop your hands." He said with a pervy grin on his face.

She felt her jaw drop and her face turned a deep shade of crimson "Kiba! I can't do that! Naruto is right over there! Besides it isn't right!"

Kiba snorted "then why did you do it before?"

She turned even redder "I was just teasing you, I didn't think you would do this! Your starting to act like a real jerk!" she practically yelled

Kiba frowned "I'm sorry, I didn't want to make you mad, here" he handed her the top back and started to swim away until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned and saw her leaned over with both her hands on her waist "and I didn't mind as long as you're the only one who sees " she smiled and quickly retied her top on and got out coming to sit next to Hinata and Naruto.

Kiba quickly followed and picked her up under her knees and swinger her around in a circle. She laughed and craned her neck kissing him quickly as he sat down setting her in his lap.

Naruto looked over and saw Ino was falling asleep in Kiba's arms. He smiled and looked down at Hinata and saw she was nodding off slowly as well.

He picked her up and carried her into the house. She smiled with closed eyes and kissed his neck "thank you."

He carried her into their room and laid her down on the bed. She shivered once and Naruto quickly threw the comforter over her and kissed her forehead.

"I love you." he whispered as he slowly retreated out the door. as he made his way out back he saw that Kiba was going to sleep as well siting in the sun with Ino.

He smiled and leaned down "Hey there's a spare bed upstairs if you want to lay her on it."

Kiba nodded but didn't move. Naruto turned and headed back into the house and before he could get there Kiba was snoring loudly in his spot.

Naruto chuckled and made his way back to his room and settled into bed wrapping his arms around Hinata, careful not to wake her.

he reached over and pushed her hair out of her face kissing her cheek and settling behind her. *man, I could do this forever.* he thought as he slowly drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

I Still don't own Naruto.

* * thoughts

" " conversation

Chapter 8; cookout and connect.

The next morning Hinata slowly opened her eyes and smiled as she felt Naruto tighten his grip around her, as is he was afraid that she would leave.

She tried to quietly wriggle free but it was to no avail. She sighed and turned to face him and kissed his cheek. He sighed and loosened his grip just enough that she could slip out.

Once free she went to her room, grabbed a change of clothes, and went back closing the bathroom door behind her. She turned the shower on and quickly stripped jumping inside letting the hot water wash the dirt and pond water from her body.

Meanwhile Naruto had woken up and was walking towards the bathroom when he had heard the water turn on and the shower start. He jumped and quickly concluded that Hinata was taking a shower.

He exited the bedroom and used the bathroom just down the hall. He returned and changed quickly into a pair of orange pants and a black shirt with an orange swirl on the front before she finished her shower and headed downstairs into the kitchen.

He noticed a small envelope on the table. He opened it and read the letter that was contained inside:

_Dear Naruto and Hinata,_

_Kiba and I had some breakfast this morning and left. We changed and washed the suit's we borrowed. They are out back hanging out to dry. Tsunade came by needing to see the both of you soon. She said it was urgent._

_Ino_

Naruto walked into the kitchen setting the letter back on the table and headed for the fridge pulling out a can with a picture of cinnamon rolls out. He oiled a sheet pan and then laid the rolls out popping them in the oven. He pulled the pack of icing out of the can and waited as they cooked in the oven.

Upstairs Hinata had finished her shower and brushed her hair. She put on her black pants and pulled on her fishnet top with the black over-shirt and tied her headband around her neck she looked at the jacket and shrugged. She didn't really feel like wearing it.

As she headed downstairs she thought she smelled cinnamon and sugar. She followed the smell into the kitchen where Naruto was putting the icing on the top. She smiled and walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him locking his arms by his side.

"Gotcha!" she said smiling and resting her head on his back. He chuckled "you're the only person allowed to catch me." He turned around and kissed the top of her head as she continued to rest her head on his stomach.

He petted her hair as they stood and enjoyed their moment of peace. Hinata looked up at him and pressed her lips to his.

He smiled and just stared into her eyes "I love you Hinata, really I do." He pulled her closer into him never wanting to let her go.

She sighed as Naruto pulled her closer. "I love you too, my hero."

He smiled at the comment. He didn't care what happened, he would give his life to protect her and he knew it. She was everything to him and that was all that mattered.

He slowly released her and pulled two plates down setting four rolls on each one. "come on Tsunade need's to see us."

Hinata nodded and waited as Naruto sat down, she quickly sat down in his lap as he set both plates in front of him.

She tore off a small piece of a roll and held it in front of his mouth. He smiled and accepted the bite picking off a piece of the same roll and feeding it to her. They continued until there was only one left and Hinata sighed.

"Naruto-kun I'm sorry but I'm really full, you can have that last one." She said slowly holding it up to his face. As he started to bite into it she smeared the roll all over his face spreading the icing everywhere.

She laughed and quickly got up and ran into the living room putting the couch between her and him.

He laughed and wiped the icing from his eyes so he could see and quickly chased her around the room. When he finally caught her he pinned her to the floor leaning over her.

"now you can clean the mess you made." He said with a fake anger. She smiled and licked the icing from his face kissing him as she finished.

She noticed that she was laying with her legs spread and Naruto had inadvertently laid himself between her legs.

She blushed furiously as she realized what this looked like "Ummm, Naruto? can you get up please?"

He quickly realized what she meant and rolled off her, as he did though she quickly rolled over and sat straddling his stomach.

She smiled and lowered her head kissing him again. He quickly deepened the kiss exploring her mouth again with his tongue. He ran his hands up her back and held her head in place as they made out in the living room.

She quickly reciprocated the kiss and used her hands to pull his face closer to hers. She ran her hands across his chest felling the hard muscles under his shirt.

He suddenly stopped and sat up "we need to stop," he had remembered Tsunade's threat and was mentally trying to still the fear he had growing inside of him.

She smiled "thank you Naruto. Let's hurry and see what Tsunade wanted."

Naruto got up and helped Hinata to her feet leading her out the door towards Tsunade's office. As they got closer, her lifted her up and placed her on his shoulders. She smiled and held her arms out as he held her in place by bracing her legs with his hands.

She laughed as he carried her into Tsunade's office setting her down next to him. His smile quickly vanished when he saw the look of concern in Tsunade's eyes.

"Baa-Chan, whats wrong?" Tsunade motioned for them to come closer and she leaned forward speaking quietly "I have a mission for the two of you."

Hinata and Naruto both just stared at her "But what about the Akatsuki? And Orochimaru?"

Tsunade nodded "we have reason to believe that Orochimaru attacked the Akatsuki but greatly miscalculated their numbers. Both leaders killed each other. There is only one surviving witness and we need you and a team of five more to go and retrieve him."

Naruto nodded a stern look on his face "it's him isn't it? Sauske?"

Tsunade nodded 'were hoping with Orochimaru and his brother gone that once we remove his curse mark he will return to normal."

He nodded "Right, so who are the other five coming with us?"

"well for starters there's shikimaru and Kiba, followed by Ino and Temari."

She stood walking over to a cabinet handing Naruto a large and heavy wooden case "you will meet Temari in the sand village where sauske is being held. When you get there put these on him. It will keep him from fighting any of you until he gets here."

Naruto opened the case and gasped at what he saw, she had handed him a set of twelve-point acupuncture pressure handcuffs. The more the person wearing them moved the less mobility the had.

Tsunade sighed "it's the only way to prevent him from attacking you. besides its only a two day's journey there and back. You guy's shouldn't have any problems. You will leave in three days, that's when sauske will arrive in the village hidden in the sand."

He nodded and reached into his pack grabbing out length of rope and tying the cuffs to his back. He took Hinata's hand again and stood facing Tsunade "why so many of us? Me and Hinata should be able to handle this on our own."

Tsunade nodded "true but I don't want to take any chances. Just because two major threats are gone doesn't mean there aren't others. I want to be sure everyone makes it back alive understood?"

They both bowed and left the office quickly heading home. Naruto stashed the handcuffs in his closet behind a wall of clothes.

His stomach growled as he thought about lunch "hey Hinata want to grab some ramen real quick?"

She nodded "sure, I need to get some stuff before we leave anyways. We need some food for the trip there and plenty of water too."

He nodded followed her back out the door and ran up behind her throwing her onto his shoulders again as they made their way to ichirakus.

Naruto smiled as he walked in the doors and took a deep breath savoring the smell of his favorite food. Hinata giggled at him as she watched him lust over the food he was already imagining enjoying.

As they took their seats sakura, Lee, Tenten, Ino and Kiba all were passing by the shop when sakura spotted the two of them inside.

Just as Naruto had finished ordering for them the gang burst in the door making all sorts of noise. Naruto smiled at the sight of all his friends.

Shikimaru came in lazily at the back of the pack and sat down at one of the chair across from Naruto.

"so Naruto, you guy's ready for the mission? Hopefully it won't be too troublesome."

Naruto just shook his head, as smart as shikimaru was he was the laziest ninja Naruto had ever met.

"we'll be ready. What about you? you ready to see Temari again?" Naruto grinned as he watched shikimaru smile

"yeah I guess, as long as she's not too much trouble, we should be ok." At this point sakura broke into their seemingly private conversation.

"Ummm, hello? What are you guy's talking about?" sakura stated as the waitress brought them their ramen. Naruto quickly gulped his down and then explained their mission to her and what it meant.

She smiled and started bouncing in her seat "sauske's coming home!? Yeah!"

Naruto smiled and nodded putting his arm around Hinata as he did. She had just finished her ramen and was leaning he head on his shoulder. He looked over and used his finger to lift her chin kissing her slowly.

Everyone watched as the couple exchanged a loving embrace. When they finally stopped Naruto grinned "tastes like ramen."

Everyone laughed as they watched Hinata blush. Sakura started in with her questions about sauske.

After she finished her barrage Naruto finally had a chance to tell her "I really don't know anything other than he's alive. From what I understand Tsunade has figured out a way to remove the curse mark. So hopefully when we get him here things can go back to normal."

"So who all is going on the mission?" Neji asked as they all exited the shop crowding in the street.

"well me and Hinata for starters, then she wants Kiba and Ino to come. Along with shikimaru. Temari is coming back with us once we get to the sand village."

Neji nodded "seems like a good team. Just be careful there are rumors that Itachi is still alive and hunting for sauske. He might try and attack you on the way back once you have him."

Naruto nodded "right, we'll keep our eyes open. Hey you guys want to come back to our place? We can hang out there for a while and swim."

Murmurs went around through the group as everyone talked. Sakura, Lee, Neji and Tenten agreed to come except Shino, Kiba, Ino and shikimaru who wanted to train. Of the one's coming, they said they would be there shortly after getting some things from home.

Naruto and Hinata quickly made a trip to the store and picked up some food and drinks for the get together.

Naruto and Hinata rushed home cleaning up from breakfast. Hinata started pulling paper plates and cups out the had gotten at the store.

Naruto ran out side and quickly split some wood starting a small cooking fire in the pit out back.

Meanwhile Hinata was busy inside preparing the food they had bought. she quickly cut vegetables onto a tray complete with a ginger wasabi dipping sauce. She then moved on and seasoned the meat with various herbs and spices then cut and onion and a head of garlic throwing it into a container and pouring oil over it. She then sealed the containers lid and left them on the counter.

Naruto had made his way inside and quickly began slicing fruit throwing it into a pitcher, Hinata was slightly confused by the one he had chosen.

"Ummm, Naruto? what are you making?" she asked as she poured chips into a bowl.

He looked over from the fridge where he was grabbing a container of grape juice "it's this drink that pervy sage gave me one time while we were on the road. He said that it called for wine but to make it non-alcoholic he used grape juice. I think he called it sandgria or something? Said he had it when he made a trip to a western country."

Hinata smiled "ok, as long as you like it. I'll try some later."

He poured the grape juice over the various fruits filling the pitcher about half way. he then sealed the pitcher and set the entire thing inside the fridge.

As the finished they both went upstairs and changed into their bathing suits. Naruto was downstairs in a flash followed quickly by Hinata.

As he sat down on the couch, she sat down on top of him knocking the wind out his lungs. He smiled and put his hand on her sides and she jumped.

An evil grin slowly spread its way across Naruto's face "Are you ticklish my love?"

She shook her head no, but quickly moved herself to a chair across the room from him.

The grin grew a little spreading further across his face as he got up and leaned down to her face with his hands supporting him on the arms of the chair.

"Are you **SURE?**" he said looking her directly in the eyes.

She slowly gulped as she knew what was coming next and was helpless to stop him.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet kissing her. As he did so he slowly raised his hands and began to tickle her at her sides holding her in place by kissing her.

She began to laugh not breaking the kiss though as she did. Eventually though she had to and ran as Naruto chased around the living room.

When they heard a knock at the door they both stopped as Naruto ran and greeted Neji and Tenten at the door inviting them in.

Neji wore a dark brown set of trunk's along with his head band across his forehead concealing the mark he had. Tenten wore a two piece blue bikini similar to the one Hinata loaned Ino only that it wasn't a thong and only covered a portion of her breasts.

Neji took a quick look around and saw the snacks and drinks already on the table "how did you guys get this setup so fast?"

Naruto smiled "we had most of this stuff here, just needed the cups plates and a few other things."

Neji shook his head "you two are incredible, the others should be here soon."

No sooner had he finished that sentence that a knock at the door again, It was sakura and Lee.

As Naruto let them in, he noticed that sakura wasn't wearing a bathing suit, unlike Lee who was wearing a pair of green and orange trunks.

"Ummm, sakura aren't you going swimming?"

She shook her head "no, my cat decided to use my suit as a play toy and it's torn all to shreds."

Hinata walked up beside her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and followed her outside and quickly came back inside holding Hinata's spare suit she had loaned Ino the say before.

"Naruto, Lee, Don't either one of you stare when I put this on ok?" she threatened with a certain anger in her voice.

They both nodded and gulped down the lump of fear that had formed in their throats. She quickly ran upstairs and changed.

Lee quickly walked over to Naruto with a cautious smile on his face "Naruto, why did she just threaten us?"

He explained to Lee about the thong and why sakura would threaten them about staring.

Lee immediately began to blush and then sighed closing his eyes willing himself to calm down.

He then opened his eyes and flashed his goof gia like smile "then neither of us will stare!" he said a little louder than nesseccary.

Naruto just sighed and out his arm around Hinata's waist. As sakura came back they all headed out back and jumped into the pond.

Hinata laughed as Neji came up behind her and lifted her out of the water throwing her at Naruto.

He smiled and saw her shadow appear over him and turned just in time to catch her and use the momentum of the throw to place her on his shoulders.

Neji grinned and motioned to Tenten. She nodded and blasted from the water landing squarely on Neji's shoulders.

"Hey Naruto how about a little water battle? Hinata versus Tenten, whoever can knock the other from her supporters shoulders wins?"

Naruto smiled and tightened his grip on Hinata's calves as Neji spoke "deal, but what's the forfeit?"

Neji thought for a second and then smiled "loser has to kiss his partner, tongue and all."

Naruto smiled as much as he didn't mind losing he really wanted to see if he was right about Neji and Tenten.

He looked up at Hinata and nodded "let's win, I wanna see something ok?" she nodded and the raced towards the pair.

Meanwhile Lee and sakura were watching from the edge of the pond as to not get in the way. never minding the fact that sakura was having to tighten up the bathing suit. It seemed that Hinata had grown larger than her in some area's and if she was to get in a fight like that she might become as exposed as Ino had told her she was yesterday.

As the two couples fought water was going in all directions. Finally Hinata was able to grab Tenten's arms and throw off Neji.

Neji gasped as he felt Tenten leave his shoulders and was thrown off Into the water. He sighed and swam over helping her to the edge where that just sat and stared away from each other.

Naruto and Hinata made their way towards the two and stopped a few feet short.

"Alright you two, you guy's lost, so now you have to kiss. _Tongue and all_ if I recall correctly Neji?"

Neji glared at Naruto, as much as he was going to enjoy this he didn't want Tenten to be uncomfortable with it.

He turned and faced her "I'm Sorry for…" he was cut short as Tenten grabbed his face and pulled him into a deep kiss.

She blushed as he returned the kiss. She had wanted this for so long and now she had a chance to show him how much she really liked him.

*no holding back, not now!* she thought as she pulled him even closer hugging him as they made out.

Naruto chuckled as he watched the new couple make out. He had known Neji had a crush on Tenten, he was actually hoping to embarrass him by doing this, but if it made them both happy that worked too.  
Hinata swam up beside Naruto, pulled him into a kiss, and lead him back towards the center of the pond.

Naruto thought for a second and formed a set of quick hand signs

Slowly Hinata felt a surface forming under her feet, it became more and more stable and finally began to lift her and Naruto until it looked as if they were standing on water. She looked down and saw a pillar of ice below them.

"Naruto, How…?" she started but was silenced by another kiss. He pulled her into a close embrace and began to run his fingers through her hair.

When they finally stopped, Hinata looked at him with a puzzled expression. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"when we had a mission in the land of ice, before we left one of the village elders took the time to show me some water manipulation jutsu. It's not that hard as long as I don't burn up too much chakra."

They both realized the others were staring at the two of them.

Neji was the first to speak "Naruto, is this from your mission in the land of ice? The one where you escorted the princess?"

Naruto gulped as Hinata glared at him. "_**princess?"**_ she said with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Naruto nodded and sent a death glare at Neji "yeah that's the one."

The ice quickly melted and Naruto and Hinata swam back and hopped up on the edge. Tenten was resting her head on Neji's shoulder smiling. Neji rested his head on top of hers.

Naruto couldn't help but think that they really looked like they belonged together. Meanwhile Lee and sakura were just sitting there staring at the water.

Lee slowly raised his arm and placed it around sakura's shoulders. She sighed, as much as she cared for sauske, she really did like Lee. She decided then and there to try and give Lee a chance and maybe he wouldn't be so bad.

Lee closed his eyes expecting sakura to punch him and send him flying into the water. However when she leaned over resting her head on his shoulders his eye's opened wide and he stared at the top of her head. He smiled and then turned and look at what everyone was staring at as they all sat holding their respective other.

The sun had begun to set on the treetops and was casting a reflection off the surface of the lake. Making it appear as though the whole sun was resting in front of them. Shades of orange and yellow danced across the water.

Naruto got up and looked down at everyone "hey, I'm going to start cooking anyone here hungry?"

Lee shot up from where he was sitting "YES!" he said with a little more enthusiasm than needed. They headed back towards the house where Naruto laid a small grill on top of the fire pit. he went in the house and brought back the container and a set of tongs. He opened the container and saw that Hinata had marinated the beef steaks.

He smiled and quickly dropped them on the grill sending flames up through the grates. He waited as the flames died and turned them over sending more flames skyward.

As they cooked Hinata brought out the chips and vegetables along with some dips. Sakura and Tenten quickly followed with cups and drinks.

Hinata came over and tapped Naruto on the shoulder "how do I finish that drink you were making" she asked pushing her fingers together as she did.

"easy, just fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water and add a little sugar, about a half cup, then it's ready." Hinata nodded and headed back into the house. She pulled the cover off the pitcher and followed Naruto's instructions. She poured a little before taking it out and tried it.

She found that it was actually really good! She quickly filled a bowl with some ice and grabbed the pitcher in another hand carrying both out to the table.

Meanwhile Naruto had just finished cooking the steaks and was setting them on plates as his friends came by. Hinata emerged from the house and set the drink down filling everyone's glass with ice.

As they all made their way to the table Lee was the first to try some of the mix Naruto had made earlier. He smiled raising his glass "this is amazing Hinata, where did you learn to make this?"

Hinata smiled "it was actually something Naruto made, I think he called it sandgria?"

Neji's eyes shot up "you mean Sangria? I thought that was an alcoholic drink?" he said slowly taking another drink.

Naruto spoke up "yeah pervy sage taught me how to make it without alcohol. So it tastes the same but we don't break any rules."

Neji's sighed and took another drink "that's good the last thing I want to happen is see anyone wandering the streets In a drunken stupor."

Everyone laughed and Naruto held up his glass "to good friends and good times, and May we all live long and happy lives."

Everybody cheered and raised their glasses in agreement. As they finished eating everyone took a seat around the now dying fire. Naruto tossed on a few more logs and then settled into a chair with Hinata laying on top of him.

Neji turned looking at Hinata and Naruto "Naruto, there is an old Hyuga jutsu that I think you and Hinata should try. It's risky, but if done correctly then it could increase your teamwork indefinitely."

Naruto nodded "sure, we'll see about that tomorrow." he turned his head slowing falling asleep closing his arms around Hinata's waist as he did.

Neji turned and found that Tenten had moved her face very close to his. She had a grin on her face and proceeded to kiss him. He smiled and returned the kiss settling her into his frame. As they stopped her pulled her close and just watched the fire as she fell asleep.

Meanwhile sakura was curled up in Lee's lap resting her head on his chest. Lee looked down and noticed she was asleep, and so he too slowly fell into his own dreams.

As the three couple's sat close by the fire, it seemed there was an unwanted guest in the woods nearby.

"so little brother is coming home eh? Well, if he makes it home then he can be free. But I doubt that he will make it that far." As the red eyes slowly faded into the night the figure chuckled "Naruto if you truly care for her, keep her out of my way."


	9. Chapter 9

I still don't own Naruto,

_**Chapter**_** 9: soul connect jutsu; **

The next morning after cleaning up Naruto and Hinata met Neji on the outskirts of town in an abandoned warehouse.

When they arrived Naruto noticed a small case with an intricate carving he couldn't quite make out next to him on a beaten table.

Hinata saw the case and stopped dead in her tracks, surely Neji wasn't going to have them try that was he? It wasn't even possible, they had been lost hundreds of years ago.

Naruto turned when he noticed that Hinata had stopped just inside the door of the warehouse staring at the case beside Neji.

"Hinata what's wrong?" she fell to her knees and tears welled in her eyes. Naruto rushed back dropped to his knees wrapping his arms around her.

"_Neji, Why? Why would you even ask this of us?_" she sobbed as she cried.

Neji sighed, he knew that Hinata would act this way, and he was going to have to convince her and Naruto that they could do this if it was to succeed.

"Hinata, you know that I wouldn't ask you to try if I didn't think you could succeed. I believe that you two are the only ones who can do this."

She slowly rose to her feet and walked still in Naruto's arms over to where the table was and just stared at the case.

The case itself was only a foot long and a foot wide. The top had a gold plate covering it, the plate was intricately carved. The painting in the carving showed to body's only the swirling around them were connected at the head by a single strand.

Naruto stared at the case and then asked the question burning in his mind "Neji, what is the story behind this?"

Neji sighed "you may as well know, since this jutsu hasn't been performed in over two hundred years."

Neji sat on the floor and crossed his legs " Long ago when kohona was just coming up as a village the Hyuga clan was the greatest of all. We had the best ninja and were the largest contributors to the budding town.

The most well known ninja in the clan at that time was the head clansmen and his wife. They were the strongest ninja in the entire provenience. People swore that at times they could read each other's mind.

As word began to spread of their great teamwork the head clansmen began to think what if he could develop a jutsu that would allow two people to become one? Though the idea seemed impossible he began to devote his time and research into the idea.

After months and months of failed attempts he realized that in order for the jutsu to succeed, he needed a way to be able to connect with his partner no matter where they were. So he traveled to the highest mountain and carved a pair of earring's from the jaded ice there and instilled all the chakra he could inside them.

When he returned he gave one of the earrings to his wife and sent her on a mission on the other side of the country. Once there she opened the scroll given to her. The instructions were to try the jutsu using the earring as a means of connection.

The clansmen was waiting and as he felt the connection his guards saw him pass out on the floor. He had not realized what a strain it would put on his body.

Though the two were connected it had emptied both of them of all their chakra. Sadly the clansmen died leaving his wife alive, bearing the shame of killing her own husband.

The earring's were lost for years after that and have only been recently recovered. I was the one to recover them on a recent scouting mission. I haven't told anyone of this not even Tsunade.

Itachi is alive and he's coming for sauske, if you are ever going to have a chance to beat him this may be your only hope"

Naruto sat in silence as he thought about the story Neji had just told. If it was possible for him and Hinata to do this it would give them any advantage they would ever need. They would never be apart, they could be miles away and share their thoughts.

Naruto looked back down at Hinata who was still sobbing. He couldn't bear to see her cry and lifted her to look him in the eyes.

She stopped crying as she felt Naruto's calloused hand slowly lift her chin. She looked into his eye's and saw all the love he had for her. That he would do anything to keep her safe, even if it meant to give his own life.

She stopped crying and realized that if there were ever two people in the world who could make this happen it was them.

She stood and wiped the tears from her eye's a determined look replacing the sadness. Naruto grinned as he saw the confidence rising in Hinata.

He turned and faced Neji "ok then, how do we do this?"

Neji pulled back a sheet that had several bottles of ink and a tattoo gun on it. There were gloves and needles, everything he would need to imprint a tattoo.

"first we need to put the seal on the inside of your hands one on the right hand and one on the left, that way you wont have to worry with hand signs. You both have pierced ear's correct."

Naruto shook his head "no, it was never something I intended on doing."

Neji nodded "no matter, it will only take a few seconds and then you'll be ready."

Neji walked over grabbing an small bottle of ointment from a tray and handed it to Naruto "put just a drop of this on the ear you want pierced."

Naruto uncorked the bottle and put a drop on his finger and then carefully rubbed it onto his right ear. He instantly lost all feeling in his fingertip and ear.

Neji nodded "Hinata I need you to come and face Naruto while I do this, if he jumps while I'm in the middle it could be bad."

She nodded and came around to face Naruto holding his hands in hers.

Naruto saw Neji walk up beside him but kept his eye's on Hinata, a moment later Neji walked back to the table grabbing a bottle of sterilizing alcohol.

He grabbed a small towel folding it and placing it on top of the opened bottle, he then disappeared out of Naruto's view again.

A second later Naruto felt a severe pain in his right ear, it hurt so much he yelled and almost reached up to cover it.

Neji quickly intercepted his hand "NO! if I don't put the earring in now the hole will close and we'll have to do this all over again."

Naruto nodded and Neji opened the case, inside were two small spherical pieces of what appeared to be jade but they were an ice blue color. They were attached to a small gold barb that had a closing lock on the back.

Neji removed one and quickly inserted the piece and locked it into place. He held up a mirror for Naruto to look at .

Naruto smiled weakly and rubbed the ear, though the pain was still there he was focusing a little chakra to numb it.

"ok, what next?"

Several hours later Neji sighed and set down the gun and wiped the sweat from his forehead "there, the seals are done." He said as he bandaged Hinata's hand.

Naruto smiled at her, throughout the whole process she hadn't made a sound and had kept her eye's on Naruto.

The couple came together in a small embrace careful not to damage the bandages Neji had placed on their hands.

Neji quickly put away his tools and looked at the two of them "now those will take about a day to heal, unless I get a friend to speed this process up."

At that moment sakura cam walking inside the front door of the warehouse, she had a large tote-bag thrown over one shoulder.

"hey Neji, so are you all done with the tattoo?"

Naruto glared at Neji "I thought you said you hadn't told anyone?"

Neji sighed "well yes, that was mostly true, I only told her because I needed her assistance since she is Tsunade's apprentice. She had access to ointments and medical supplies that were nessecary that I can't get."

Naruto nodded "alright, I guess that's a good enough reason."

Sakura nodded "I only need this, but I told Tsunade I was helping a local family that needed some special care so she sent me with this whole bag, though I think she still suspects something's up."

She pulled out a small thin bottle of what appeared to be lotion. She removed Naruto's bandages and applied the ointment liberally and rubbed it into the fresh ink.

Naruto gritted his teeth as he felt the burn. It felt like sakura was rubbing some sort of acid all over his skin, but as she kept on the pain disappeared and he saw that the hand was healed and no trace of scarring remained.

She repeated this with Hinata who yelped when the burn started, Naruto saw the tears well up in her eyes, but grabbed her other hand making her turn and face him.

When sakura finally finished, she put the ointment away and handed them both a small bottle of elixir. "here, this will replace any chakra you've used to dull pain while Neji was doing the tattoos."

Naruto quickly drained the bottle and tossed it aside. Hinata smiled and followed suit, she instantly felt her chakra return to maximum level.

The couple stood and faced Neji who handed the other earring to Hinata, she quickly placed it in her left ear and took and extra step to Naruto's left.

"now," Neji started "for this to work you will both have to concentrate some chakra into the seal and the earring to start the jutsu. When you feel another presence press into you mind do not fight it, let it enter. Then the jutsu will complete it elf, you will know when it's done. All you have to do after that is say _soul connection jutsu_"

They both nodded and brought their hands together and closed their eyes. They both shouted at the same moment "_SOUL CONNECTION JUTSU!"_

{Naruto's thoughts; Hinata's thoughts; Nine-Tailed fox Thoughts}

Naruto struggled as he concentrated he felt his limbs go numb and his memories flashed across the back of his eyelids.

He saw their first mission fighting with Haku and Zabuza, their return and fighting with Orochimaru in the forest of death, fighting with Kiba and then Neji, his battle with Garra and sauske's betrayal. Everything that he had gone through up to this point Naruto experienced over again.

"Yeah kit, we've had some great times." He felt the fox slowly retreat his presence from his mind "don't worry, I won't mess with this kid, I'll just make sure you and her stay alive."

Slowly he felt another presence enter into his mind, at first he tensed but remembered Neji's words and relaxed letting the presence in.

Hinata quickly experienced her memories again focusing on the good instead of the bad. As she felt Naruto's presence enter her mind, she tensed, it felt like a raging hurricane was trying to enter, like an unstoppable force that no one could handle.

She tried to ease her mind and focused on the wonderful memories she had of her and Naruto together over the past few weeks.

Naruto felt Hinata's timid and shy mind slowly envelope into his mind. He felt the memories she was having and focused on them. Images of the night he had asked her out flashed, the first night she had spent at their house, learning to swim and feeding each other at the table.

Neji watched with his Byakugan as their chakra's slowly became weaker and weaker until all that remained was a small flicker of energy.

*come on! I know you can do this* he thought, sakura watched as Naruto and Hinata became paler and she visibly saw their body's become weaker.

*come on Naruto! you can do this! Hinata's strong enough are you?* she thought as she closed her hand in front of her mouth helpless to do anything for her friends.

Suddenly Naruto felt his chakra balance out and his strength return. Hinata giggled in her head as she realized that they had done it!

*Naruto?* she called out in her mind cautiously trying to see whether they had succeeded or not.

Naruto felt excitement rush through him when he heard Hinata's voice echo inside of his head ***Hinata! WE DID IT!* **

"**good job guy's just know I'm here when you need me, which I don't think will be too often."**

Neji slowly approached the two as he saw their chakra levels rise to normal again.

"Naruto? Hinata are you there?" he asked sakura quickly raced to Neji's side as they waited for the two to open their eyes.

Slowly Naruto raised his head and opened his eyes looking at Neji who gasped at what he saw. The earing's were glowing a bright white color and Naruto's left eye had turned the same shade lavender as Hinata's.

Neji's eye's shot over to Hinata, her earring was the same white color, but her right eye had turned the same shade of cerulean blue as Naruto's.

The couple spoke at the same time "what? what are you guy's staring at?" sakura quickly snatched a mirror off the table and held it up in front of Hinata's face.

They both gasped as they saw what had happened. Neji quickly cleared his throat "now that you have successfully completed the connection all we need to do now is make sure you can severe it."

The couple nodded, and they both slowly lowered their heads and closed their eyes saying "_disconnect"_. A few second later they looked up again, their eye's back to their normal color and the earring had stopped glowing as well.

Naruto and Hinata both slumped to the ground panting, it felt as though they had just fought and entire army.

Sakura came back over with two more bottles of elixir and handed one to each of them. As they slowly drank Tsunade burst through the doors.

Neji jumped in surprise as Tsunade ran over and checked both Hinata and Naruto's vital signs.

She looked up at Neji "did everything go according to plan?"

Neji nodded "yes, everything went accordingly although they won't be able to use this more than once per day, but it does show that as long as they maintain their connection they won't drain each other as well."

Tsunade nodded as Naruto quickly sprang up and tackled Neji "YOU SAID NO ONE ELSE KNEW! YOU LIAR!" Hinata slowly got up and put her hands on Naruto's shoulders.

He released his hold on Neji, without even turning around he knew it was Hinata. Something was different it was like he knew what she was thinking.

Hinata smiled even though the connection wasn't there anymore, she still felt like she knew what he was thinking.

Tentatively she closed her eyes and concentrated *Naruto can you hear me?

He gasped when he heard Hinata's voice in his head and reeled backwards, quickly turning to face her.

He looked over at Tsunade "are the sphere's still glowing?"

Tsunade frowned "no, the connection's gone why?"

Naruto shook his head "because we can still communicate mentally. I hear her thoughts and I know what she's thinking."

Tsunade quickly ran her hands down Naruto's side's and then did the same with Hinata.

After a few minutes of repeating this, she smiled and finally spoke "it took me a minute but I found that your chakras have been combined within both your bodies, almost physically linking you, And Naruto?"

He turned about to unleash another wave of rage on Neji "Yeah?" he said still glaring at Neji.

"you do realize it was me that sent Neji after these things? And me and that sent him on the scouting mission looking for Itachi and Orochimaru?" she said turning and giving sakura the thumbs up for her work.

Naruto sighed and held his hand out to Neji "sorry, I just don't like it when people lie to me."

Neji took Naruto's hand and stood up brushing the dirt from his clothes "apology accepted, but please do realize that I only have your best intentions at heart? Your my friend and I wouldn't want to see either of you hurt."

Naruto smiled "thanks, so what else does this do for us?"

Tsunade smiled "you can draw strength from each other as long as you maintain the connection, the jutsu basically separates part of your soul and transfer's it to Hinata, making you seem like one soul and body. That's why it was named the soul connection jutsu."

Naruto nodded and grabbed Hinata's hand. She was smiling from ear to ear as she felt the love that Naruto had for her in his heart. She would never get tired of that feeling, she hoped he could feel the same coming from her.

As they five of them headed out the factory doors Tsunade made Naruto and Hinata stop as Neji quickly scanned with his Byakugan making sure Itachi wasn't watching. He nodded and Tsunade let Hinata out keeping Naruto behind.

"if you don't mind Naruto can we test something?" she asked as Neji and Hinata headed back towards town. He nodded as he saw he two of them disappear.

"sure," he felt the Hinata's concern for him when he didn't immediately catch up.

*don't worry, Tsunade wants to try something, I think she wants to see what kind of limit there is on this connection we have without the jutsu.* he felt her relief and then slight panic as she hurried to catch up with Neji.

Tsunade turned and watched out the door "tell Hinata that I want them to head across town and see if this mental link goes out."

Naruto relayed the information to Hinata who was racing with Neji towards the west gates of kohona.

Naruto could feel Hinata's joy as they raced across the rooftops of kohona. He felt her happiness and joy just from being home.

Tsunade watched and saw a slow smile cross Naruto's lips as he stared off in the direction that Hinata and Neji had gone.

She smiled and slowly reached over and touched him on the shoulder careful not to startle him. "Naruto, we need to talk about something,"

_**Cliffhanger!**_


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own Naruto

Ok guys, please don't hate me for what I do in this chapter. Yes, Hinata and Naruto have an edge but I still plan on making this an extremely fight, but that will come in the next chapter!

_**Chapter 10**_

The next morning after stopping and packing some more supplies, Naruto and Hinata met the other's at the kohona east gate.

After finding the link they had was limitless Naruto and Hinata had found that unless they concentrated on what the other was thinking they had no idea. Secretly Naruto had tested blocking his mind with chakra and found if he concentrated, Hinata couldn't read his thoughts.

Shikimaru was already there lazily leaning on the inside of the gate, as he saw Naruto and Hinata approach he sighed going back to watching the clouds.

*I Really hope Naruto doesn't do anything crazy!* he thought, remembering the last time he and Naruto had been on a mission together trying to bring sauske back.

As Naruto sat down shikimaru looked down from staring at the clouds and started to say something to Naruto and stopped mi-d sentence.

Naruto just sat there under shikimaru's stare waiting for him to say what was really on his mind.

*Naruto, why is shikimaru staring at you?* Hinata asked him mentally re-establishing her link with him.

Naruto thought for a second and then chuckled *it's probably the barb in my ear,* he thought reffering to the earring that Neji had put in the day before.

Finally shikimaru spoke "Naruto why are you wearing an earring?"

Naruto stopped for a second and then answered once Hinata had scanned with her Byakugan making sure that Itachi wasn't listening.

Quietly Naruto explained about the soul connection jutsu, and how once they disconnected that they were pretty much useless. He also explained that Itachi had survived and was out on the hunt for sauske.

Shikimaru nodded "then we need to keep this under wraps. We'll need to be sure that if Itachi does attempt to kill sauske that were ready."

Naruto and Hinata nodded, shikimaru noticed the box on Naruto's back "are those the cuff's Tsunade sent?"

Naruto nodded as Ino and Kiba finally arrived. Ino was looking like her usual self, Kiba on the other hand looked as though he had just spent the night in a house full of cats.

Naruto smiled as the two approached "hey guy's, you ready to head out?"

Ino nodded "yeah, let's go!"

Kiba yawned and stretched "yeah I guess, but can we take our time? I didn't get much sleep last night, my neighbors just got a new cat and it spent the night on his window seal meowing most of the night."

Hinata giggled at Kiba's excuses, she knew why he had not gotten much sleep the night before. It was the same reason every time there was a full moon.

Naruto just shrugged "if you don't think you can keep up fine, just means I have a better chance today than you."

Kiba growled at the comment and woke up a little more "how about a bet then? Me and Ino will race you and Hinata to the sand village, first one there get's the master suite in the hotel we stay in for the night."

Naruto fell over laughing at Kiba "dude! You can barely stand up how in the world do you expect to beat us?"

Kiba smiled "then you are afraid that I can beat you?" he said trying to goad him into accepting the bet.

Shikimaru however wasn't about to let this happen "GUY'S! we need to stay together as a group! The akatsuki and Orochimaru might be gone but that doesn't mean were totally in the clear either. There are always more threats waiting."

Kiba and Naruto nodded "right, sorry!" they both said at the same time.

Shikimaru grabbed a small branch from a tree limb and quickly cleaned the leaves from it and began drawing in the dirt.

"now, in order to be most effective this is the way we need to travel. Hinata we need you in the lead since you'll be able to see any threats coming with your Byakugan.

Kiba you'll be second, since Akamaru's sense of smell will be a good backup incase Hinata misses something.

Naruto you'll be in the center since your our strongest and your carrying the handcuff's we need to deliver.

Ino you'll be behind him making sure he doesn't drop them while we travel. I'll bring up the rear so I can make sure were not followed. Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads; it made the most sense and had the best tactical advantage if they came across trouble. They lined up and jumped into the trees, racing towards the sand village quickly.

As they made their way through the tree's Naruto swore that he felt someone watching them. As they exited fire country and entered the desert the feeling left him.

They all stopped as they came to the desert edge and stopped for a water break.

"be sure and re-fill your water supply before we leave sand village territory, the desert is hot and unforgiving to those who don't prepare for it." Shikimaru reminded them.

As soon as they had finished they quickly started sprinting across the desert. A few hours later the sand village was just coming into view when the wind all of the sudden picked up.

Shikimaru smiled and stopped as everyone else continued on towards the village. The wind grew stronger creating a sand storm as the team got closer to the village.

All of the sudden shikimaru spun around bringing a kunai up to a defensive position as he did catching Temari's fan as he did.

She smiled "it's good to see you shikimaru, glad to see your still as sharp as ever."

The wind died and the storm dissipated clearing the view between them and the village the other's had stopped when akamaru started barking in shikimaru's direction.

As the sand settled they all came back and greeted Temari with smiles and handshakes.

Temari smiled as she greeted her old friends, "it's good to see you all. You should get some rest before heading back. Sauske will be arriving in the morning once we have him in custody we'll begin the trip back to kohona."

They all nodded and followed the konouchi back into the village. She lead them to a large building in the center of town.

As they entered Naruto felt a cold chill run down his spine at what he saw inside. Garra stood infront of them dressed in a red kazekage uniform.

"hello Naruto, how have you been?" he said in the same emotionless voice he always had.

Naruto cautiously shook his hand remembering the demon inside his friend "Good and how have you been?"

Garra shrugged "bored, being a village leader is really boring actually, too much paperwork."

Everyone shared a small laugh at the joke as Garra motioned them into the next room where Dinner had already been made and set for them.

As they all sat down to eat Garra noticed that Naruto and Hinata seemed a little closer than normal.

The way they never took their eyes off each other throughout the entire meal, it was like there was a conversation going on between the two of them that only they could hear.

Unbeknownst to Garra that's exactly what was going on, Hinata was explaining to Naruto that while Garra still had the sand demon sealed inside of him that since his first battle with naruto he had gained more control of it.

As they finished their lunch Temari volunteered to give them a tour of the city, Garra quickly spoke up before everyone could leave.

"Naruto can we talk for a minute?" he asked heading for an office off to the right of the dining room they were in.

He looked at Hinata who just nodded and left with the others. He followed Garra into the office closing the doors behind him.

Garra was standing in front of a large wooden desk with his arms folded across his chest a serious look coming across his face. Naruto guessed he wanted to talk about Itachi and sauske.

As Naruto closed the doors Garra spoke "so I'm guessing Tsunade told you about Itachi still being alive correct?"

He nodded "yeah, but were prepared for him."

Garra nodded "I bet, I know she sent the acupuncture cuffs, but I don't want you to put them on sauske."

Naruto's face slowly scrunched up in confusion "who are they for then?"

Garra just stared at Naruto for a second and then told him "I want you to try and subdue Itachi using the cuffs on him."

Naruto shook his head "there's no way we can do that. You're talking about a man that slaughtered his own clan. The only reason that sauske is still alive is that he's never faced him one on one yet."

Garra nodded "I knew that would be your response. But I sense there are other motives than the fact of Itachi's strength that moves you in that direction."

A small smile grew on Garra's face as he saw Naruto blush and stammer for a second "Naruto it's ok! One of the thing's that I have always respected about you is that you fight for the people you care about it."

Naruto nodded as he continued "she must really mean a lot to you, especially since she's hearing this whole conversation."

Naruto's jaw dropped "how did you. . .?"

Garra smiled "being kazekage does have its advantages. One is being in constant communication with all villages and keeping updates with my friends.

Tsunade sent Neji here a few months ago to check into a small box that had been buried years ago in the desert. When he approached me and Temari for help he explained what the box contained and the risk of what they were trying."

Garra turned and looked out a small window in the office overlooking the city

"For the first time in my life Naruto I felt worried for someone other than my family and people. You are a great ninja and a true friend. I am glad to see that you survived the jutsu. Just be careful, something as powerful as that shouldn't be taken lightly."

Naruto approached Garra from behind placing a hand on his shoulder. The kazekage turned and faced the blonde chunin.

"thank you Garra, I know we've had our difference's but I appreciate the concern. You are my friend too hopefully one day soon we will be working together as hokage and kazekage."

_**Flashback**_

Tsunade reached out and touched Naruto on the shoulder "Naruto there's something we need to talk about."

Naruto turned and faced Tsunade smiling "sure Baa-Chan what is it?"

She sighed "the council of elders is making me select my replacement as hokage now so that I can begin grooming them to take my position within the next few years when I retire."

Naruto nodded "ok but what does that have to do with me?"

She smiled "well I'm selecting you as my successor. By the time you turn twenty one you will be ready to take over my place as hokage. Your strength is un-matched throughout the village, which is certain.

What we will be focusing on is the politics part of my job along with caring for the C and D class missions given to low-level genin.

Also we will need to be sure you understand the customs of each of our neighboring villages and formal ceremony customs as well for our village.

It's a lot of responsibility, I just need to know. Can I count on you to give it your all?"

Naruto stopped for a second and considered what she was sking him and then flashed his same goofy grin and gave her a thumbs up.

"You bet! I'll give it everything I have!" Naruto yelled with excitement.

She smiled "good then we can start your training in a few weeks once I tell the council of elders. Also you will be under Hiashi's training when it comes to dealing with the higher class. Maybe you two will be able to resolve your differences."

Naruto nodded he hoped that he could convince Hiashi to re-accept Hinata into his family; after all she was his eldest daughter and would need his blessing before ever considering marrying Hinata.

_**End of flashback**_

Garra smiled "yes Tsunade asked me my opinion before making her decision. She asked me of all the ninja in the kohona clan which did I think was most capable of becoming the next hokage."

Naruto smiled "you said me right?"

Garra shook his head "actually I said Neji at first since he has the best manners of all of you."

Naruto hung his head for a second until he heard Garra chuckle, it was the strangest sound, like a dog trying to meow.

"however, when she pointed out that the hokage was supposed to be the strongest ninja in the village, I immediately thought of you."

Garra walked towards the door and opened them stepping out of the office and motioning Naruto to leave.

"Hinata will begin to worry if you don't catch up soon. By now I believe Temari will be bringing them to the hotel where you will be staying. And don't worry about the bill, we will cover your stay while you are here, just don't go crazy ok?"

Naruto nodded and shook his friends hand before leaving in search of the others.

Hinata quickly felt Naruto's struggle to find them, she smiled and sent him a mental image of where they were.

Temari stopped outside a small water fountain for a drink and the others quickly sat down for a small rest. she noticed Hinata smiling off on her own and quickly came over sitting next to her on the edge of the fountain.

"so I hear you and Naruto are together finally huh? It took him long enough right?"

Hinata's smile grew larger as she thought about the night that Naruto had asked her out and sighed "yes it did, but it was worth the wait to me. So when are you going to finally get shikimaru to ask you out huh?"

Temari blushed a little and stammered "I-I don't know what you mean!"

Hinata giggled "Come on, we both know you like him, and honestly I know he like you, he's just too lazy to do anything about it."

Temari laughed at the last part "yeah, that's definitely him."

What they didn't realize was that he had been listening the whole time while they were talking. He smiled when he heard that Temari wanted to go out. And then groaned at the joke Hinata had made about him being lazy.

*what a pain, Even if she is right, it's still a pain* he thought as he stood up and walked over to Temari looking down at her.

Hinata and Temari both looked up and saw shikimaru staring at her. She couldn't place it but there was something in the stare he was giving her that she liked.

"yeah what. . . " he cut her off by pulling her to her feet and kissing her, at first she raised her hand to hit him over the head and then stopped and lowered it. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss wrapping her arm's around his neck.

Shikimaru braced himself as he kissed her and felt her raise her arm. He couldn't predict exactly what she would do but there were really only two things.

1: she would clobber him and then yell telling him exactly what he needed to hear.

Or 2: this.

Naruto dropped off a roof just in time to catch shikimaru and Temari making out in the small plaza. He smiled and walked over taking Hinata by the hand as he did and led her around to where Kiba was holding Ino in his arms.

The two couples watched as the two made out for a moment. When Temari noticed everyone staring she quickly pulled away, but didn't let go of shikimaru's hand.

"well," she cleared her throat "now that that's out of the way, why don't I show you guy's where you'll be staying? It's late and I bet you all just want to rest."

The group nodded and followed Temari to a hotel nearby. She approached the counter, the clerk quickly handed her five keys "here you are mam"

She handed each member of the team a key "here you go guys, the hotel has breakfast from six to nine. After that you'll be on your own ok?"

The team nodded and shikimaru spoke up "what time is sauske coming in the morning?"

Temari thought for a second "sometime around seven-thirty or eight is when they are supposed to arrive."

He nodded "ok guy's then let's meet here at six for breakfast and we'll head to the exchange after?"

Everyone agreed and headed for their rooms, except Hinata who went to the front desk after everyone had left and handed her key to the clerk "I won't need this" she said.

The clerk gave her a knowing smile "sure dear, there's a pharmacy around the corner if you need anything." The woman turned back to her paperwork as Hinata blushed and quickly caught up with Naruto.

All their rooms were on the top floor, they were small one bed and bathrooms. There was a small balcony where they could sit and watch the sunset before it got dark.

Naruto threw his pack on the floor next to the bed and opened the door to the balcony leaning on the railing as he watched the sunset.

He heard Hinata come out to the balcony beside him and wrapped his arms around her waist pressing his lips into her neck.

She smiled "it so beautiful the way the sunsets on the desert sand, almost like a mirror" she said as they watched the sun settle below the dessert horizon.

They both walked back into the hotel room. Naruto removed his jacket and shirt leaving him in only his pants and boxers.

Hinata pulled a pair of sleep pants and a night shirt from her bag and headed for the bathroom. As soon as she had changed she crawled into bed and felt naruto climb in behind her wrapping his arms around her waist as he did so.

She smiled and turned her head pressing her lips to his "Goodnight my love" she said as she settled in and drifted off to sleep.

Naruto reached over and touched the switch kicking on the ceiling fan in the room "Goodnight my princess" he said slowly falling asleep next to her.

Meanwhile out in the dessert itachi smiled as he raced towards the sand village "I hoope your ready little brother. If not then all your friends wil be slaughtered come morning!"


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Naruto

* * thoughts

{_soul connection talk}_

Chapter 11;

The next morning Hinata shook Naruto awake as she gathered their things for the exchange this morning.

Naruto rolled out of bed wiping the sleep from his eyes as he regained his focus. He smiled as he was greeted by the sight of Hinata's smiling face sitting in the chair opposite him in the corner.

He pulled on his shirt and jacket and walked over pulling her to her feet. She giggled as he pulled her into a close embrace pressing his lips to hers.

She sighed, and wished they could spend all day like this. Naruto was so caring when they were alone, it was like he let all the walls down and let her see the real Naruto.

Slowly he released her, tied the handcuffs onto his back, and headed for the door. He held it open as she exited and then locked it behind them.

They quietly made their way downstairs where they met the rest of the team. Ino was sitting in Kiba's lap feeding him cereal from her bowl as he did the same. Shikimaru was lazily picking through his granola eating all the raisins first.

Naruto quickly made himself a waffle and glass of orange juice as Hinata had found the cinnamon rolls and was getting a glass of milk.

They quickly took seats at the table and ate as Temari approached the table.

"Morning everyone!" she said coming to sit next to shikimaru.

They all muttered their greeting while trying to hurry and eat. Shikimaru was the first to finish and placed his arm around Temari.

She blushed a little but quickly turned serious "so, how do we want to travel on the way back? Any specific grouping or order?"

Shikimaru nodded "well sauske will obviously be in the middle. We'll put Hinata in front followed by Naruto. Kiba will immediately follow sauske with Ino close behind. You and I will travel on either side of him so that we can keep him covered."

The rest finished their breakfast and quickly scooted closer into the table "right, but here's a question, why is it that everyone seems to think we'll be attacked? The akatsuki and Orochimaru are both gone right?" Kiba asked.

Shikimaru looked at Temari for a second and then sighed "Itachi is still alive. If we are to believe a recent scouting mission, he will probably make an attempt on sauske while were still here in the city."

Kiba nodded "so we need to be ready for anything?"

Shikimaru nodded "we all need to be on guard"

Meanwhile naruto was focusing on Hinata talking to her in their mind link.

*Hinata, we need to tell the team*

Hinata sighed and just looked at everyone before responding

*are you sure? Remember the more we talk about it, the more likely Itachi may hear.*

Naruto thought for a second and then nodded and coughed grabbing everyone's attention. The team all turned and faced them. Shikimaru looked concerned as he saw Naruto had a serious look on his face.

"there's something Hinata and I need to tell you guy's, something that only a few other people know about." Naruto said

Most of the team nodded except shikimaru who quickly spoke up "Naruto! What if Itachi is listening?"

Naruto thought for a second and looked at Temari "how sure are you that Itachi isn't here?"

"well the city watch hasn't reported any strange activity and we doubled the patrol's since we learned of sauske's arrival." She said looking around the room being sure they were alone.

Naruto pulled Hinata into his lap and wrapped his around her before beginning "two days ago Hinata and I attempted to perform a jutsu that hasn't been done in hundreds of years."

Naruto turned his head showing the others the earring attached to his right ear "these earrings allow us to perform the jutsu, once we do though we are useless for the rest of the mission. It drains all our chakra and strength leaving us vulnerable."

The three members nodded and listened intently as he went on "the jutsu is called soul connection jutsu. It gives us all the experience and knowledge of the other, as Tsunade said, two souls inside one body."

He stopped and waited for the others to comment watching their faces as they took in all he had said. Ino was the first to speak after a moment.

"so when you guy's connect, it's like sharing the other person's mind and body? Isn't that kind of dangerous if one of you gets hurt?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

Hinata was the one who spoke up this time "true we share everything while we are connected but as long as we look out for each other there shouldn't be any problems."

The team left the hotel and headed for the east side of town, as they did Naruto could have sworn he felt someone watching them.

When they arrived at the east gate four guards wearing lightning village headbands immediately drew their weapons

"halt! Who goes there?" one asked stepping forward towards the ninja

Temari spoke up " the transfer team, I am Temari of the sand village here with a letter of introduction and transfer papers for one sauske Uchiha." Temari handed the papers to the one who had stepped forward.

Once he had finished looking them over he nodded to his team who parted and allowed the teen to come forward. Sauske was dressed in his black jacket and shorts with his kohona headband tied across his forehead.

Shikimaru nodded at naruto who stepped forward and opened the case showing sauske the cuffs

"I'm sorry" he said before placing the wooden stockades over his wrists and tightening them down. Naruto then pushed all twelve pins of the cuffs into sauske's wrists making the teen wince in pain.

Temari and the others bowed to the other ninja as they headed back towards the eastern mountain range they called home.

As they made their way through maze of sand buildings Naruto got that uneasy feeling again and quickly tapped into Hinata's mind.

{Hinata, be on the lookout something isn't right.} he thought as they moved along.

She nodded looking over her shoulder at him and activated her Byakugan as they passed by the fountain they had been at the day before.

Suddenly a figure leapt from the water grabbing Hinata by the waist and pulling her in front of him, Naruto's anger rose as he saw that It was Itachi with a kunai at her throat. He felt the fear rise inside her and the tears that came to her eyes just made him angrier.

"hello everyone, thank you for bringing sauske to me, it saved me the trouble of tracking him down after he betrayed us all."

Naruto looked at sauske with hate growing inside of him "what is he talking about sauske?"

Itachi laughed a low and evil chuckle "he didn't tell you? He's the reason that the akatsuki and Orochimaru aren't around anymore. Once we removed the curse mark for him he wanted revenge but our leader wouldn't help him, so sauske went back and played us both by causing a small civil war. In the end I only escaped by following him at doing what he does best. Running away, the little coward didn't even stay to watch the leaders kill each other."

Naruto looked back at sauske and just stared at him blankly "so you knew that he was still alive and coming? Why give yourself up then?"

Sauske sighed, "because as much as I don't want to say this I needed your help, I might be fast enough but I'm still not strong enough to beat him. That's where I need your help naruto; you're the only one strong enough to beat him."

Naruto looked at shikimaru who nodded Naruto started to walk towards sauske until Itachi cleared his throat. Naruto stopped and turned to face him glaring with all the hate he had.

Hinata turned her head so that Naruto could see the earring and tried her mind link but found that she wasn't able to talk to him. The voice that responded felt evil and dark, she realized all of the sudden that the voice belonged to the nine-tailed fox.

{Don't worry sweetie, I won't hurt you, I'm here to help. Naruto's blocking you out so he can come up with a plan. However, I have an idea, if you can somehow turn the tables on Itachi after Naruto frees sauske then he can use the cuffs on him.]

Hinata listened and agreed that it was a good plan but with one problem {what if Itachi breaks free of the cuffs?}

She heard the deep and evil laugh from the fox {don't worry the time that it takes him to break them will give you enough time to re-group and kill him.}

Meanwhile Naruto scrambled in his mind to try and figure out a way to free sauske without putting Hinata in more danger. Naruto looked back at sauske but saw that one of the needles had fallen out.

Naruto looked at sauske's face and he was grinning. Naruto knew he could get free; he just needed a way to get Hinata away from Itachi.

Itachi tightened his grip around Hinata and the kunai dug into her skin drawing a small line of blood from her neck.

"now Naruto if you don't mind, why don't you bring sauske over here and we'll trade off?" he said. He planned on killing the girl anyways just to make Naruto suffer.

Naruto walked over and grabbed the top of the stockades purposely jarring a few more needles as he did. Naruto flashed sauske a grin before he cautiously walked with sauske towards where Itachi was holding Hinata.

Itachi loosened his grip around Hinata's waist but did not move the kunai, as they got closer. Hinata had been waiting for this chance. She focused all her chakra into her palms and pressed them into Itachi's sides.

Itachi bellowed and dropped the kunai and pulled away from Hinata. Meanwhile Naruto had pulled all the needles out of the cuffs and pulled them off him.

Itachi realized that Hinata had just used a genjutsu on him and quickly jumped to a safe distance and quickly regained his composure.

"It seems I underestimated you Hinata, but no worries none of you will make it back alive." He launched himself in Naruto's direction slicing at his midsection with his sword.

Naruto quickly jumped back blocking the slash with a kunai, sauske had drawn his sword as well and brought it down in an overhead cleaving motion.

Itachi saw sauske's blow coming and rolled to the left and brought his hand up making a quick set of hand signs

"fire style; dragons breath!" he shouted as a tunnel of flames erupted from his mouth heading straight for sauske.

Sauske rolled as shikimaru moved in behind Itachi forming hand signs for his shadow possession. Temari saw shikimaru move into a buildings shadow to give himself enough shadow to stretch.

She quickly drew her fan and whipped up a sand storm blinding Itachi and the team from seeing each other. Kiba took initiative and threw Akamaru in Itachi's last known direction. Kiba formed his hand signs and akamaru took on his human form.

Shikimaru was trying to find Itachi inside the sand storm that Temari had whipped up. He knew that he was directly in front of him but found that there was not anyone there.

Temari allowed the sand storm to die and saw that Itachi had used it as a means of disappearing.

The group came together back to back and faced out from the fountain and Hinata began to scan the surrounding buildings.

As she looked for Itachi Naruto turned and looked at shikimaru "so what 's the plan now?"

Shikimaru just shrugged "try and kill him before anyone gets hurt. I mean we can't predict what he'll do next."

As he finished speaking Itachi appeared on the top point of the fountain "you ninja have gotten stronger! But not strong enough!"

His hands were a blur as he formed his hand signs and shouted "amaterasu!"

Sauske's eyes widened as he saw which jutsu Itachi was going for, and yelled "Itachi!" jumping and slashing trying to stop him.

Naruto had seen the same thing sauske had and quickly formed a few short hand signs and raised his hands and shouted "ice style! Water wall jutsu"

The wall sprang up just in time creating a vast cloud of steam in the small plaza. The team quickly dispersed

{Naruto we need to connect, maybe we can catch him off guard that way?}

{ok, lets go for it!}

Naruto quickly focused his chakra into the seal on his hand and felt the earring begin to thrum.

Soon he felt Hinata's mind press into his and said "soul connection jutsu!"

Itachi panted as he tried to stop the bleeding. He hadn't counted on sauske being able to connect a blow before he was able to complete the jutsu.

He finally sealed the wound and began to look around to see If he could spot his young brother. He cursed as he saw the immensely thick fog surrounding the area.

He noticed two glowing lights that seemed to be getting closer and closer. They finally got close enough that Itachi saw it was Naruto and Hinata.

"Ahh, has the young couple come to try and fight? Or are they just a distraction for little brother?"

Naruto looked up at Itachi and smiled "no were here to kill you!"

Itachi's smile faded as he listened to the threat. He couldn't tell if it was Naruto or Hinata who was speaking ad then he noticed that Naruto's right eye wasn't the same shade of blue it was before.

Instead, it was the same shade of lavender that Hinata's was. He quickly looked and saw that Hinata's left eye had turned the same shade of blue as Naruto's.

Itachi felt his anger rise and closed his fists "so you found them did you?" he said referring to the earring's that were shining in their ears.

They both smiled "that's right, and now you're finished!"

They both dashed at Itachi who was still recovering from his injury. Hinata stopped in front of him and took her juyken pose "Ryu Juken! 128 Palms!"

Itachi was quick to avoid her strikes but didn't see Naruto coming from behind with a resenegan in hand.

He heard him coming and tried to move but found he was unable to and looked down, he cursed as he saw that his shadow was longer than what it should have been.

Shikimaru smiled and shouted "Finish him!"

Naruto slammed the orb of chakra deep inside Itachi's back sending the former ANBU flying into the fountain. As they saw Itachi flying through the air sauske jumped over the top and brought his sword around in a long slicing arc.

His body fell to the ground in a slump and sauske walked over to Itachi's head and quickly formed a few short hand signs.

"fire style; dragon's breath." In a few short seconds Itachi's body was burned to ash and scattered to the wind.

Sauske quickly crumpled to his knees clutching his right arm. Even though most of his body had avoided the flames his right arm had still been caught in the torrent in order to connect the blow.

Hinata and Naruto rushed to his side and looked at Temari "Where's the hospital?"

Temari dashed in front of them and led them to the hospital where they rushed sauske into the emergency room.

As soon as his arm was treated and wrapped the team quickly made their way back to kohona taking care to be sure that they had no other surprises along the way.

As soon as they reached the city gate's Tsunade and a team of ANBU were waiting for them. She saw sauske injury and looked at shikimaru.

As he explained the events of the day Tsunade's expression went from rage to annoyance and then back to rage.

She glared at sauske "as much I would like to welcome you back with open arms we need to be sure it safe to let you back into the village. We need to question you and be sure it's safe. Are you willing to comply?"

Sauske nodded "yes, I realize now how stupid I was to leave my friends and allies behind. I'll do whatever it takes to earn your trust back."

Tsunade nodded "very well follow us. Oh! And Temari, please come by my office tomorrow? I Have an offer I would like to extend to you."

Everyone went their separate ways back home including Naruto and Hinata.

When they finally reached home they severed the connection and collapsed onto the couch.

Naruto looked over at Hinata and smiled "you were awesome today! Great idea burning itachi with your chakra!"

Hinata blushed a little "actually it wasn't my idea, it was the nine-tails idea. He helped me when you blocked me out for a minute to think."

Naruto's jaw dropped and he quickly closed his eyes concentrating on the foxes chakra source.

"* hey kyuubi! Thanks!*"

The foxes evil laugh came rumbling across the floor of Naruto's mind "*kit, don't even mention it ok? She's connected now, what happens to her happens to you. just means I gotta take care of two brats now instead of just the one!*"

Naruto shook his head and left that part of his mind coming back to Hinata who was fighting to keep her eyes open.

Naruto forced himself up and picked Hinata up one arm at the bend in her knees the other behind her neck carrying her like a child.

Hinata sighed and closed her eyes as Naruto carried her upstairs and laid her down on the bed. she quickly rolled off and grabbed her night clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Meanwhile Naruto grabbed his and changed quickly crawling into bed, when Hinata returned she smiled as she saw he had already fallen asleep.

She climbed in beside him and settled into him. She felt him automatically wrap his arms around her and she sighed closing her eyes.

Today had been amazing and terrifying, she just hoped that they were ready for what other trails may come their way.


	12. Chapter 12

I Do not own Naruto

Ok guys, I didn't get a lot of reviews from chapter 10. Please try and post a review if your following this story ok? It helps give me new ideas and direction on where the story needs to go.

*thoughts*

_**Chapter 12**_

After collecting their pay Naruto and Hinata were given a week to recover from the mission before Naruto was to start his training with Hiashi.

When Tsunade announced Naruto to be her successor Hinata was so happy for him. He had finally achieved his dream and was on his way to becoming hokage.

After the week had passed Naruto was summoned to Tsunade's office and was met by her and Hiashi. Hiashi just glared when he saw Naruto enter the office.

"Tsunade what is that boy doing here? I thought you said you successor was to be here today?" Hiashi said never taking his eye's off Naruto.

A Cheshire cat grin spread across Tsunade's face as Naruto came to stand next to her "He is my successor Hiashi. Naruto is the strongest ninja in the village and the fastest leaner as well. He shouldn't have any problems learning manners from you."

Hiashi glared at Tsunade seeing what she was trying to do. It didn't make a difference to him, by the time he got done with him, Naruto would quit and give up being hokage.

"very well mam. If that is your wish, then I will accept the task given to me. Naruto, Be at the Hyuga house tomorrow morning at sunrise. I want to get an early start so that we can cover as much as possible."

Naruto nodded and gave Hiashi the customary bow, showing his respect to the elder sanine.

"of course Hiashi-sama. I will be ready." Naruto said trying to hide his smirk.

Hiashi left and Tsunade turned and stopped Naruto before leaving.

"you know he's not going to make this easy on you right? To him you stole his daughter from him and humiliated him in front of his peers. He'll probably try and make you quit by the weeks end."

Naruto flashed her his cheesy grin and gave her a thumbs up "no worry's Baa-Chan. I won't quit, No matter what!"

Tsunade smiled and dismissed him. Naruto quickly ran home to find Hinata busy making dinner for the two of them.

He quietly crept up behind her intent on scaring her until she turned and planted her lips squarely on his catching him by surprise instead.

Naruto stopped with his arms over his head posed to scare her when she turned and smiled at him. "you know if you wanted to scare me you should have been quieter coming in and avoided slamming the front door."

He chuckled and grabbed a bow of ramen she was holding out to him. "hey, can't blame me for trying though right?"

She smiled "nope, so what did Tsunade want today?"

Naruto lead her into the living room where they continued eating " she introduced me to my teacher today for my manner's and etiquette training."

Hinata giggled as she thought about Naruto trying to learn manners. He was so wild and untamed, even now he looked like a squirrel as he stuffed his face with ramen.

Naruto stopped and looked up to see Hinata laughing and quickly slurped down the rest of his ramen noisily.

"what are you laughing at?" he asked setting his bowl aside.

She finally stopped laughing long enough to set her ramen aside and look at him with a straight face.

"Naruto you know I love you, but of all the qualities you have manners is not one of them. I know you will give it your best though." She said taking his hands and nuzzling them to her face.

He smiled as he realized what she meant. He really had no idea what it meant to be apart of the higher class. All his life people had treated him like an outcast so he really never had any expectation to live up to before joining the academy.

Naruto laughed and pulled Hinata in his arms "you're right, but hey as long as I have a good teacher I guess anything is possible right?"

She smiled and settled into him resting her head on his chest "Right, so who did Tsunade get to tech you?"

Naruto swallowed a lump that formed in his throat and answered cautiously "Umm… _Hiashi?"_

Hinata quickly sat up and faced Naruto "what?"

Naruto smiled weakly "she asked your father? Since the Hyuga clan is the wealthiest and most prominent family in the kohona village she said that it would be a good idea for Hiashi to oversee my training."

Hinata just stared at Naruto for a second before speaking " Naruto, he hates you! how could Tsunade even consider asking him to teach you?"

Naruto sighed and pulled her back into his arms "don't worry, I don't care how hard he tries. I won't quit. I'll keep trying no matter how long it takes."

She sighed, she knew Naruto meant what he said, she just wasn't sure that her father would be as accepting.

Naruto got up and took their bowls back into the kitchen setting them into the sink for washing. Hinata slowly came walking into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist as he was washing the dishes from their lunch.

Naruto smiled and quickly set the dishes into the drying basket and dried his hands off. He turned and rested his head on top of Hinata's.

"don't worry Tsunade wouldn't have asked him if she didn't have a good reason. I'll be fine! I promise!" he kissed the top of her head and pulled his head back to look at her.

She looked up at him and finally smiled "your right. Let's go swimming, I wanna try and practice some more."

Naruto smiled and released his hold around her waist and raced for their room "last one in is a rotten egg!" he called as he threw on his swimming trunks.

Hinata laughed as she ran upstairs and searched for her bikini. Hinata grew desperate as she searched and was unable to find it. She finally came across the blue one she let Ino and sakura borrow and threw it on without thinking.

She raced for the stair and quickly saw Naruto dashing out the back door. she sprinted after him and jumped into the water splashing him as she did.

Naruto laughed as Hinata surfaced and splashed him again. She swam to the middle of the lake and turned back to face him.

He smiled and made his way to her and dove under the surface. He quickly made his way behind her and grabbed her around the waist as he broke the surface.

Hinata gasped as she felt Naruto lift her up and place her on his shoulders. She laughed as he spun her around and then tossed her into the water.

As she resurfaced Hinata sank back down in the water quickly and looked around.

Naruto noticed the slight panic in her eye and quickly swam over to her.

"something wrong Hinata?"

She blushed a deep shade of red and Naruto noticed that the top straps for her bikini were missing from her neck.

He looked around and saw the blue piece of fabric floating close by. He started to swim towards it and then stopped.

A smile spread across his face and he turned back to Hinata keeping a straight face.

"I don't see it Hinata, is it over behind you?" she turned and Naruto swam up behind her and hugged her to him.

Hinata gasped as she felt his hands snake their way around her waist. She started to shake as his hands slowly made their way higher on her waist and cam to rest on top of her hands.

She turned and faced Naruto being careful to keep herself covered, she saw in his eye's a look she had never seen before.

He looked hungry but not in the usual way it was more carnal than that.

She was caught off guard as he lowered his head and kissed her with tremendous force. She gasped for air as he broke the kiss and blushed a deeper shade of red as she realized what he was trying to do.

She returned the kiss slowly pushing them towards the edge where the ladder was, as they got closer Naruto's hands began to wander down her sides and up to her face, making sure to never break the kiss as he did so.

When they were finally close enough Hinata broke the kiss and pulled herself up the ladder with her back to him and quickly wrapped her beach towel around herself.

Naruto looked up as she pulled herself from the pond and mentally kicked himself. He should have known better, Hinata was smart, she probably had known what he was doing from the moment he had kissed her.

He sighed and got out of the pond and pulled his towel from the ground, drying his hair quickly as he did. He reached into the pocket of his trunks and pulled out the blue material from before.

"here, I'm sorry about before. I went too far, knowing how you feel. Please forgive me?" he said holding out the piece of material.

Hinata smiled and took it from him "apology accepted Naruto, but there are still consequences for your actions are you ready for your punishment?"

Naruto hung his head for a second and then looked up at her and nodded. Hinata tried her best to give him a stern look as she spoke.

"for the rest of the day you won't be allowed to kiss me. Moreover, I will be sleeping in my own room tonight, so that way you will appreciate what you have from now on ok?"

Naruto's jaw dropped as she finished her sentence. He couldn't imagine going an entire twelve hours without her! It seemed impossible, but he knew that she was addicted to him as he was to her.

He had an idea that maybe, just maybe, by the end of the night she would be back in his arms.

Naruto smiled and looked her square in the eyes "fine, but just remember you're the one who came up with this punishment!"

He walked back into the house and changed into a pair of jeans and headed back outside for some extra training time.

Hinata smiled and followed him into the house and changed quickly into a pair of her favorite black pants and fishnet top. She pulled on her over shirt and quickly made her way back downstairs' looking for Naruto.

She looked in the kitchen expecting to find him making more ramen but was surprised when she did not find him there.

She checked the living again and smiled as she saw him through the window doing more crunches.

He was so determined to be the strongest, she envied him a little even though she loved him. He was always training trying to perfect his flaws and find a way to correct his mistakes.

Hinata made her way out front into the meditation garden. She lit a few sticks of incense and crossed her legs.

As she sat trying to hear all the sounds around her she was distracted by thoughts of Naruto training in the back. She couldn't help but replay the image of him in the back shirtless doing his crunches.

He hadn't even began to really work yet and he was already sweating. The more Hinata thought about it the more she wanted to go and wrap her arms around him.

She shook her head violently send her hair in all directions, she could not allow herself to be distracted! She was going to make it through this she just needed something else to focus on.

She noticed a small flower growing just outside the garden. The small bud was pushing up through the gravel.

Hinata smiled and focused her mind on the small bud. She thought about how hard the poor plant must have had to work to even grow in the terrible soil conditions.

Naruto stopped crunching, walked back into the house grabbing a glass from one of the cabinets, and made himself some water.

He gulped down the first one and quickly re-filled sipping on the second, he listened but didn't hear Hinata anywhere in the house.

Naruto made his way out front and saw Hinata was busy concentrating on her meditation.

She looked so peaceful, the way the sun was lowering behind the trees cast the sunlight in just such a way so that it looked like heaven was shining down on her saying, 'Naruto! She's the one for you!'

He smiled and watched for a few minutes before heading back into the house and laying out on the couch and taking a small nap.

As Hinata rose from her meditating and headed back into the house she saw Naruto had fallen asleep while reclining on the counch.

She walked over and settled herself into his arms, she knew what she had said just earlier but she also knew that she had made her point.

She sighed as she too slowly drifted off to sleep, wondering what it was that her father had planned for Naruto tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Authors note: **_ First of all I want to apologise for the long wait on the new chapter. Unfortunately I have a lot going on right now, so the updates to the story will be further apart.

Second I will be incorporating several new characters into the story line as Naruto begins to travel to other villages. So do not be surprised to see some of the other jinchuurki within the next few chapters or so.

" _conversation"_

_* thoughts*_

_**Chapter 13**_

The next morning Hinata awoke to find herself laying cuddled up to a very large frog with a note attached to its nose.

She pulled the paper off the stuffed animal and quickly read it wondering where it was the Naruto had gone to in such a hurry.

_Hinata,_

_Sorry about leaving you so early but your father wanted me at the Hyuga house at sunrise so we could cover as much as possible and also I think I have found a way to earn his respect._

_Hopefully all will go well. I will see you for dinner tonight my love,_

_Naruto_

Meanwhile at the Hyuga house Naruto was already sweating as Hiashi was standing over him with a small hand-fan watching him.

Naruto had known that Hiashi planned to put him through his paces but he never imagined it was so hard just to sit like a noble.

*_flashback_*

Naruto sighed as he knocked on the door of the Hyuga house. He wasn't looking forward to Hiashi being his trainer but he was hoping to win him over.

He knew that if he ever wanted to marry Hinata he would have to earn Hiashi's blessing and in order to do that he would have to change the man's opinion of him.

Hiashi opened the door and glared down at Naruto "so you did remember to be here before the sunrise? I'm impressed that you can manage to get up that early."

Naruto smiled as best he could trying to be respectful "your kinder than Jiraya sensei. He would wake me in the middle of the night sometimes for training. it got old extremely fast."

Hiashi nodded "agreed so are you ready to begin your training?"

Naruto nodded "believe it!"

Hiashi groaned "firstly, never ever yell. Second follow me."

Naruto quickly followed the clan leader. Hiashi led him into a small room where all Naruto saw were two pillows on the wooden floor.

Hiashi smiled and pointed at one of the pillows on the floor "okay Naruto, this should be a simple exercise for you. I want you to sit on this pillow."

Naruto smiled and quickly sat cross legged on top of the pillow grinning like a moron.

Hiashi quickly brought the small fan down on top of Naruto's head "Wrong! Stand up!'

Naruto quickly stood, rubbing the back of his head as he did so.

Hiashi walked over to the second pillow and sat down bending his knees so that all the touched the pillow were his calves' and the tops of his feet.

He looked back up at Naruto as he finished arranging himself on top of the pillow " this is how a nobles seat themselves when they meet."

Naruto quickly tried to sit down as Hiashi showed him but ended up falling sideways half way through.

*_**End Flashback***_

Now almost three hours later Naruto had finally gotten to where he could sit for more than ten minutes without having to walk around and get feeling back into his legs.

Hiashi continued to look down on him as he circled the youth watching carefully to make sure he kept his posture.

"alright Naruto, that's enough lets move on now.

Meanwhile in the shopping district of kohona Hinata wandered aimlessly as she waited for Naruto's training for the day to come to an end.

She sighed, she knew what kind of techniques her father employed when it came to teaching manners. She shuddered as she remembered learning them at a young age.

As the heiress to the Hyuga clan she was expected to behave properly and in a dignified manner, no matter how unruly her host acted.

Hinata became lost in her own thought's and didn't even notice when she ran straight into someone.

"HEY! Watch where your going… Hinata?"

Hinata got up and brushed the dirt from her jacket as she took the hand that was held out to her.

As it turned out it happened to be none other than Tenten the weapons mistress of kohona standing outside a weapons shop.

"sorry Tenten I didn't mean to run into you" she said finally getting a good look at the chunin.

She wasn't dressed in her usual shirt an pants instead she was wearing slack and a collared shirt with a name-tag.

"umm Tenten what are you doing exactly?" Hinata said with a small giggle

Tenten looked down at herself and laughed "yeah I know it's not my usual outfit, but during my time off from mission's I work here in my aunt's weapon shop. Plus it keeps my on the up and up with new weapons that pop up in the local area."

Hinata nodded as she half listened to Tenten getting lost in her thought's again. Tenten noticed the far away look Hinata was giving her.

" hey Hinata is something wrong? You seem distracted?"

Hinata shook her head sending her hair flying in all directions clearing her head "sorry, im just worried about Naruto."

When Tenten gave her a puzzled look Hinata quickly explained about him being appointed the next coming hokage and his etiquette training with Hiashi.

At first Tenten smiled and congratulated Hinata on Naruto's success of becoming the next hokage and then giggled as she told her about Naruto learning manners.

"Naruto? learning manners? This should be interesting!" Tenten said regaining her composer

As customers began to come into the store Tenten excused herself and Hinata followed her into the store and began to look around.

She saw all sorts of knives and daggers hanging on the wall behind a glass case containing kunai. On the other walls of the shop lance's, sword's and halberd's of all shapes and sizes covered the interior of the store.

As she looked at the contents of the shop she noticed a sword hanging on the wall with a black blade and orange flames on it.

Tenten finished filling out the customers orders and came up beside Hinata and noticed which sword she was looking at.

"that's a hand and a half sword. It's good for close combat and light weight so it's easy to carry. Are you looking to get this for Naruto?"

Hinata smiled and nodded "yes he's done so much for me I want to get him something nice like he did for me." She said touching her necklace again.

Tenten noticed the necklace and gasped as she saw the gemstone's "Oh My Gosh! Hinata that necklace is amazing! Naruto got that for you?"

Hinata nodded "on our first date, it was really sweet." She regaled Tenten with the story of how Naruto had taken her to kenji's and how she had spent the night curled in his arms.

"wow, I wish Neji would do something like that for me. His idea of a formal date is more battle training." Tenten said taking down the sword and scabbard from the wall "come on let's get this wrapped up so you can take it home to Naruto."

As she placed the sword on the counter she rang it up and the hesitated "you know I could engrave this if you want, it would only take a few minutes."

Hinata nodded "that's perfect!"

"okay, so what do you want it to say?" she called over her shoulder as she pulled out a long engraving knife laying it next to the sword.

Hinata stopped and thought for a moment before responding "wo ai ni from Hinata"

Tenten smiled as she scribbled it down and laid her engraving knife on top of the paper and quickl made a few short hand signs and the writing on the paper disappeared. Hinata watched as Tenten wrote onto the blade in the same shade of orange that was already swirled on it.

When she had finished writing she placed the sword back into the leather cased scabbard and handed it to Hinata.

Hinata paid Tenten and quickly thanked her before heading out of the shop and towards home with a smile on her face. She couldn't wait to give naruto his gift!

Meanwhile back at they Hyuga house Hiashi sighed "Naruto come on, is it really that hard to maintain your composure?"

Naruto was in another fit of laughs as Hiashi continued to use a long feather to tickle his student. He had hoped that this would be the simplest part of training for him.

Unfortunately for him Naruto still couldn't manage to control his laughter even after three hours of trying.

Hiashi sighed and stopped "I think that's enough for now, lets stop and have lunch and you can try again."

Naruto took a few deep breaths and finally stopped laughing and stood dusting himself off. "Ok Hiashi sama, what are we having for lunch?"

Naruto followed Hiashi into the kitchen and saw a sushi platter set out and two bowls of ramen as well.

Hiashi sat and broke his chopsticks beginning to eat the sushi in a dignified manner.

Naruto quickly sat down and started slurping down his ramen as quickly as possible. As he finished his first bowl Hiashi quickly grabbed a spoon laying on the table and proceeded to smack Naruto on top of the head.

"OW! What was that for?" Naruto yelled as he rubbed the back of his head.

Hiashi glared at the boy "firstly you should never scarf down food as if it is your last meal. Second slurping when eating any sort of noodle or soup is just rude and thirdly you should never under any circumstances stuff your face where you look like a wild animal. It is degrading to your appearance and just plain nasty."

Naruto sat and thought for a moment. Hiashi had a point if he was going to become hokage he was going to be representing his village if he ever had to travel to any of the other elemental countries.

"your right Hiashi-sama, if I'm going to become the future hokage I need to start acting like one."

Hiashi was stunned for a second by the sincerity in the boy's voice. For a moment Hiashi thought Naruto was serious about learning etiquette.

Naruto slid the other bowl of ramen in front of him and began to slowly eat the ramen breaking the noodles into smaller pieces.

Hiashi watched in awe as he watched Naruto follow everything he had just told him. It was like Naruto finally understood what he and Tsunade were trying to teach him.

When they finished lunch Hiashi led Naruto back to the other room and grabbed the feather once more. Naruto sat down on the pillow as Hiashi had shown him earlier that morning.

As Hiashi began to try and tickle Naruto he was amazed as they boy never once flinched or made a sound for forty minutes despite Hiashi's best efforts.

Hiashi finally stopped and held his hand out to the young chunin "Naruto I was wrong about you, it seems you can be serious when you want to be. Will you accept my apology?"

Naruto took the elder man's hand and stood to look him in the eye and then bowed at the waist never losing eye contact.

"no apology necessary Hiashi- Sama, people have always treated me like an outcast. The reason I was angry with you was that you could treat Hinata with such anger. I've never had any family of my own until I met my teammates and Jiraya sensei. To me family means everything and Hinata is no different."

Hiashi considered what the youth was telling him for a moment and then broke a small smile "for someone so young, you are wise beyond your years Naruto. it seems that I have mis-treated Hinata when it came to her relationship with you. do you have any idea where she is now? I would like to try and make amends. "

Naruto looked across the room through an open door at a clock hanging in the living room. Seeing as it was already almost two 'o' clock Hinata should have been home by now.

"if my guess is right she's is probably at home by now. She was going shopping this morning but if I know her she's already at home meditating in the garden out front."

Hiashi nodded "good then lets end your training here for today. If you don't mind I will walk with you home."

Naruto nodded as he gathered the scrolls on proper table manners and instructions on the tea ceremonies for each elemental village.

"okay then, let's go!' Naruto said slinging his pack over his shoulder and heading for the door with Hiashi close behind.

Meanwhile back at home Hinata had just finished putting away the groceries she had bought after bringing the sword home and hiding it in her room so Naruto wouldn't find it.

She sighed with relief of having completed the laborious task and walked out to the meditation garden out front and took up her lotus position and closed her eyes focusing on the sounds of nature around her.

She smelled the trees and heard the wind whistling through the leaves and just faintly she heard the sound of footsteps on the path.

She quickly tried to touch Naruto's mind and found the he was at the end of the path leading to their home. She jumped up but quickly sat back down when she read his thoughts and realized her father was with him.

She felt fear rise inside her at the thought of her father coming for a visit. What could he possibly want? He had already disowned her? What more could he possibly take away from her?

As she saw them coming she closed her eyes and pretended to be deep into her meditation as she heard the approach.

When she heard their footsteps in the sand that made the garden she began to worry when they did not call out to her for a few minutes.

After a while her curiosity finally got the better of her and she slowly opened her eyes only to have her jaw drop at what she saw.

Naruto and her father had sat down in lotus position and began meditating with her instead of disturbing her.

As she slowly stood up Naruto opened his eyes and smiled up at her "sorry to disturb you Hinata-Chan, how was your day?"

She smiled as Naruto stood and held his hand out to her father helping him to his feet.

"fine Naruto, father what are you doing here today?" Hinata turned to face her father as he stood and dusted off his robes.

Hiashi sighed and faced his daughter "Hinata I have acted a fool these past few weeks, when I should have been listening to you and the elder's I ignored them and let all my hate and anger come out. You were right when you said Naruto was a good man. He has proven to me that he is loyal to a fault and most definitely worthy of your love. I only hope that you can forgive all my rash behavior and give me second chance as a father."

Naruto quickly came to Hinata side as she began to weep with a smile on her face and the wrapped her arms around her father's mid-section. Hiashi smiled and wrapped his daughter in a hug holding her close as she cried into his robes.

As Hinata stopped crying and pulled herself back drying her eyes on her sleeve and smiled looking her father in the eye as she spoke "you never had to ask for it father, I forgave you as soon as I read your letter. Yes I love you, and I always will. But I do love Naruto, and as much as I respect you I think I will continue to live here."

Hiashi nodded "of course, whatever makes you happy." He turned and faced Naruto "training will resume tomorrow morning, sunrise understood?"

Naruto nodded and bowed as Hiashi bowed as well "well good night you two, I will see you soon."

As Hiashi made his way back home Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata's shoulders and led her back in to the house. Hinata smiled and looked up at him as she sat down with him snuggling close and laying her head onto his chest.

Naruto looked down at her and pressed his lips to hers when she finally looked up at him. She sighed and felt her whole body go numb as she continued to kiss him.

As Naruto pulled away he smiled at the small pout on her face, he chuckled and got up heading upstairs to change "so Hinata other than shopping and cleaning anything interesting happen today?"

Hinata followed him telling him about running into Tenten and the shopping she had done the rest of the day avoiding the subject of buying him the sword.

As he changed Hinata ducked into her room And pulled the long blue package out from her closet and snuck back In and set the sword on the bed while he had his back to her.

She then proceeded to walk up behind him and jump onto his shoulders and then cover his eyes with her hand's. Naruto laughed and turned trying to get his bearings.

"Naruto stop and I will guide you to your surprise ok?" Hinata giggled ad he came to a complete stop and followed her instructions guiding him to the front of the bed.

When she finally had him in place she removed her hands from his eyes and lowered herself from her shoulders.

As Naruto blinked a few times regaining his focus, he saw the blue package on the bed and instantly grabbed the package and began ripping off the wrapping paper and gasped as he drew the black and orange sword from its sheath.

He gazed in awe of the weapon and then noticed the inscription on the blade close to the handle and tears came to his eyes.

He turned as he sheathed the blade and leaned it against the wall next to the bed and pulled her into a close embrace and kissed her deeply trying to show her his appreciation for the gift.

Hinata smiled and pulled away and looked deep into his cerulean eyes "I take it you like it then?"

He smiled and nodded "yes, love it! Thank you so much!"

Hinata smiled bigger if possible and then began to slowly yawn and rested her head on his chest.

Naruto smiled and held her close as she began to fall asleep in his arms, he scooped her up and carried her to the bed and laid her carefully facing away from him and then settled in behind her wrapping his arms around her stomach and kissing the top of her head as he too drifted off to sleep.


End file.
